A fifth oil tanker linked to Venezuela was interdicted by U.S. forces in the Caribbean, U.S. Southern Command confirmed on Friday.

Two U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News that the Coast Guard, supported by the Navy, was in the process of seizing the Olina oil tanker.

Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier for the pre-dawn operation to support the Department of Homeland Security as part of "its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere."

The command posted unclassified footage on social media of a U.S. helicopter landing on the vessel and U.S. personnel searching the deck.

"Once again, our joint interagency forces sent a clear message this morning: 'there is no safe haven for criminals,'" U.S. Southern Command said in a statement on X.

Once again, our joint interagency forces sent a clear message this morning: “there is no safe haven for criminals.”

In a Truth Social post on Friday, President Trump said the tanker had departed Venezuela "without our approval" and is now on its way back to the South American country.

"The oil will be sold through the GREAT Energy Deal, which we have created for such sales," Mr. Trump said.

U.S. government records show that the Olina was sanctioned for moving Russian oil under its prior name, Minerva M, and flagged in Panama, the Associated Press reported.

While records show that the Olina is now flying the flag of Timor-Leste, it is also listed in the international shipping registry as having a false flag, meaning the registration it is claiming is not valid, the AP reported. In July, the owner and manager of the ship on its registration was changed to a company in Hong Kong.

According to ship tracking databases, the Olina last transmitted its location in November in the Caribbean, north of the Venezuelan coast, the AP reported. Since then, however, the ship has been running dark with its location beacon turned off.

The ship has a listed cargo capacity of up to 890,000 barrels of oil, which at the current market price of about $60 a barrel would be about $53 million.

The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to control the distribution of Venezuela's oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro.

Two tankers were interdicted on Wednesday— one in the North Atlantic and one in the Caribbean Sea, officials said.

The U.S. European Command confirmed the seizure of the Marinera, a Venezuela-linked oil tanker formerly known as Bella-1, in the North Atlantic after pursuing it from the coast of South America. U.S. Southern Command announced that the other intercepted vessel, M/T Sophia, was "conducting illicit activities" in international waters in the Caribbean.

Ships like the Marinera are part of a so-called shadow fleet of ships that illegally transport oil from sanctioned nations like Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

Maduro has rejected U.S. allegations about how the vessels are being used and accuses the U.S. of plundering Venezuelan resources under the cover of law enforcement.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who shared a longer video of the seizure on Friday, said the Olina was a "ghost fleet" tanker ship that departed Venezuela, "attempting to evade U.S. forces."

"The ghost fleets will not outrun justice. They will not hide under false claims of nationality," Noem said on X. "The Coast Guard will seize sanctioned oil tankers, enforce U.S. and international law, and eliminate these funding streams for illicit activity including narco-terrorism."

The world’s criminals are on notice.

After the U.S. capture of Maduro earlier this month, Mr. Trump has pitched Venezuela's oil wealth as a way to financially fuel the country's economic recovery — and deliver benefits for energy consumers and oil companies. He told Fox News' Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Thursday night that he's expecting oil companies to spend at least $100 billion to "rebuild the whole oil infrastructure" in the South American country.

Mr. Trump is meeting with big oil industry executives on Friday afternoon. CEOs from Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Continental, Halliburton, HKN, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas, Repsol, Eni, Aspect Holdings, Tallgrass, Raisa Energy and Hilcorp will be at the White House for the meeting.

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