Joint United States forces intercepted the Olina oil tanker this Friday in the Caribbean, in a coordinated action between the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Southern Command reported.
The operation, which took place before dawn, included the participation of Marines from the Southern Lance Joint Task Force, who took off from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to execute the boarding.
The world’s criminals are on notice.
Early this morning, the @USCG executed a boarding and seizure of the Motor Tanker Olina in international waters east of the Caribbean Sea. As another “ghost fleet” tanker ship suspected of carrying embargoed oil, this vessel had departed… pic.twitter.com/vvS3u3nrvl
—Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) January 9, 2026
In a statement, the US command assured that the action sends a “clear message” that “there is no safe haven for criminals”, within the framework of the Government’s efforts to combat “transnational illegal activities” in the Western Hemisphere.
The authorities did not specify the number of detainees and stressed that the operation was carried out without resistance.
The Olina, according to the site marinetraffic.comhas the flag of Timor Leste and came from the Chinese port Liuheng, although “it had left Venezuela before being intercepted” according to a statement in X, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem.
There he described the ‘Olina’ as part of the so-called “ghost fleet”, made up of oil tankers suspected of transporting embargoed oil that try to evade US forces through flag changes or clandestine routes.
In recent days, the United States has intensified its naval and air presence in the Caribbean, and on Wednesday it seized two other oil tankers linked to Venezuela, one of them flying the Russian flag.
US increases tensions with Russia after seizure of offshore oil tanker linked to Venezuela
That day, the Pentagon confirmed the seizure of the tanker ‘Marinera’, formerly known as ‘Bella 1’, a ship that Washington pursued from the Caribbean to the North Atlantic for three weeks.
The US Coast Guard also intercepted the ‘M/T Sophia’, a sanctioned oil tanker that, according to Washington, was operating illicitly in international waters, resulting in a total of five ships with crude oil being seized, recalls a report from EFE.
Pentagon officials have noted that Operation Southern Spear is not temporary and will continue as long as necessary to, they said, protect U.S. territory and restore security in the Western Hemisphere.
