Il Messaggiere - US intercepts oil tanker off coast of Venezuela: US media

It was the second time in two weeks that US forces have interdicted such a vessel, and comes days after President Donald Trump announced a blockade of "sanctioned oil vessels" heading to and leaving Venezuela.

The New York Times, citing an unnamed US official and two people inside Venezuela's oil industry, reported that the vessel was a Panamanian-flagged tanker carrying Venezuelan oil that had recently left Venezuela and was in Caribbean waters.

CNN reported that the operation was supported by the US military and occurred in international waters.

It was not immediately clear if the vessel seized was under US sanctions.

The Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment Saturday.

On December 10, US forces seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, which the attorney general said was involved in carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela to Iran.

The United States has for months been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean with the stated goal of combatting Latin American drug trafficking, but taking particular aim at Venezuela.

There are currently 11 US warships in the Caribbean: the world's largest aircraft carrier, an amphibious assault ship, two amphibious transport dock ships, two cruisers and five destroyers.

There are US Coast Guard vessels deployed in the region as well, but the service declined to provide figures on those assets "for operational security reasons."

Caracas views the operation as a campaign to push out leftist strongman Nicolas Maduro -- whom Washington and many nations view as an illegitimate president -- and to "steal" Venezuelan oil.

The US military has also conducted a series of air strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September. Critics have questioned the legality of the attacks, which have killed more than 100 people.

T.Abato--IM