U.S. Sanctions and Maritime Enforcement

The Justice Department has filed its first civil forfeiture complaint to permanently seize the tanker Skipper and nearly 2 million barrels of petroleum taken off Venezuela in December, alleging the vessel was part of a "ghost tanker" operation that moved Iranian and Venezuelan oil under false flags and funneled revenue to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The filing — one of at least 10 tanker interdictions since late 2025 and framed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and DOJ Criminal Division chief A. Tysen Duva as part of the administration’s campaign to dismantle shadow fleets and assert control over Venezuelan oil flows — must be approved by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., before the cargo can be sold.