By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Wed. Mar. 4, 2026: The United States government is seeking the forfeiture of a crude oil tanker seized on the high seas in December 2025 that authorities say was falsely flying the flag of Guyana while transporting millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil linked to sanctioned networks.
The U.S. Department of Justice said a civil complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to seize the Motor Tanker Skipper and its cargo of approximately 1.8 million barrels of crude oil supplied by Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA).
According to the complaint, the vessel was intercepted by U.S. authorities on December 10, 2025, after it was determined the ship was falsely claiming Guyana’s flag, effectively rendering it stateless under international maritime law.
The tanker and its cargo are being targeted for forfeiture because prosecutors allege the operation helped generate revenue and influence for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its Qods Force, which the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the case demonstrates Washington’s determination to disrupt financial flows to hostile regimes.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the era of secretly bankrolling regimes that pose clear threats to the United States is over,” Bondi said. “This Department of Justice will deploy every legal authority at our disposal to dismantle operations that defy our laws and fuel chaos across the globe.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the complaint highlights the agency’s efforts to enforce sanctions and disrupt global networks used to fund militant groups.
“The FBI, working alongside our interagency partners, will continue aggressively identifying, disrupting, and dismantling the financial networks used by foreign adversaries to fund terrorist organizations and destabilize international security,” Patel said.
“We will aggressively enforce U.S. sanctions against Iran and relentlessly pursue ghost fleet vessels whose illicit oil shipments have served as revenue sources for the IRGC and its terrorist proxies,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “With the continued seizures and forfeitures of tankers and related profits, we are sending a clear message that there will be no safe harbor for sanctions evasion – and that we will deny Iran the ability to fund terrorism through its shadowy maritime networks.”
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva added that the case is part of broader efforts to stop millions of dollars from flowing to designated terrorist organizations.
According to the DOJ, the forfeiture complaint alleges a scheme dating back to at least 2021 involving the shipment and sale of petroleum products to benefit the IRGC.
Investigators say the Skipper transported crude oil originating in both Iran and Venezuela, using ship-to-ship transfers and other deceptive maritime practices to move cargo around the world.
Authorities say the tanker most recently loaded approximately 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil in November 2025 at the José Terminal in Venezuela.
Shipping documents cited in the complaint show that about 1.1 million barrels of the cargo were scheduled for delivery to Cubametales, a Cuban state-run oil importer that has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019.
However, U.S. officials say the vessel changed course before reaching Cuba and was intercepted on the high seas in the Caribbean.
The seizure of the Skipper is part of a wider U.S. effort to disrupt sanctioned oil trade linked to Venezuela and Iran.
Officials allege the tanker had been operating as part of a so-called “shadow fleet” used to evade sanctions by falsifying locations, changing vessel identities and flying false national flags.
If a federal judge approves the forfeiture request, the U.S. government could take ownership of the tanker and its oil cargo, potentially selling the crude and redirecting the proceeds.
The case remains pending before the court.
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