The Trump administration is using different legal arguments when seizing Venezuelan oil tankers compared to raids on alleged drug traffickers, even though both actions target Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the U.S. seizure of a Venezuelan crude oil tanker as an enforcement of sanctions based on a federal court warrant. The Coast Guard, with aid from the Army, took the tanker into custody off the coast of Venezuela. This vessel had long been sanctioned for transporting oil tied to Venezuelan and Iranian operations that allegedly support foreign terrorist groups.
A senior official mentioned that the sanctions designation was the sole legal basis for the ship’s seizure, in contrast to the armed conflict authority the administration uses for raids on drug-trafficking vessels. This highlights how the administration employs two different legal frameworks in the same area: one for sanctions and confiscation laws regarding tankers, and another for wartime powers against drug cartels.
The seized tanker, referred to as “Skipper,” has been on the sanctions list for years due to its involvement in a clandestine oil network linked to both Venezuela and Iran, which is considered a funding source for terrorist organizations by U.S. officials. According to officials, the vessel’s designation allows it to be classified as “seized property” under U.S. law, facilitating the Justice Department’s ability to seek confiscation through civil forfeiture laws, which is the foundation for this operation.
Despite the administration’s insistence that the seizure aligns with U.S. sanctions and forfeiture law, historically, using domestic law to detain foreign ships on the high seas has raised eyebrows among maritime law experts—especially when those ships are not U.S.-flagged. Issues around the ship’s captain being stateless or falsely flagged might be critical in that context.
Furthermore, administration officials clarified that while the sanctions apply, they are not invoking battlefield authority or rights to self-defense in this situation. Instead, they depend on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and other related laws, enabling the U.S. to target properties linked to sanctioned entities, even if located overseas.
Military-backed civilian operations aligned with this seizure are happening alongside a separate military initiative based on claims that the U.S. is “at war” with foreign drug cartels. Observers note that both strategies ultimately aim to apply pressure on Maduro to relinquish power.
