The seizure warrant for the rogue oil tanker that was carrying a load of Venezuelan oil has been released. This should silence any critics of the seizure who were claiming this wasn't done properly; it probably won't silence Maduro's Venezuelan or Cuban complaints, but there's little reason to care about them. The warrant is ample evidence of the propriety of the seizure.
A newly unsealed warrant shows the U.S. Coast Guard seized the M/T Skipper, a crude oil tanker intercepted off Venezuela, just before the warrant was set to expire on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The move comes as the Trump administration layers on new U.S. sanctions against Venezuelan oil shipping networks and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro's inner circle, aiming to raise the risks for companies moving the country's crude.
- The sanctions escalate the Trump administration's campaign to choke off what it calls illicit oil flows tied to Iran and Maduro's government in Caracas.
Driving the news: The warrant, signed by U.S. magistrate judge Zia Faruqui on Nov. 26, was obtained under federal law that authorizes seizure of all assets "engaged in planning or perpetrating any Federal crime of terrorism," according to a Friday news release from the U.S. attorney general's office for D.C.
What they're saying: "The FBI's Counterintelligence Division and our partners will continue to enforce U.S. sanctions and cut off our adversaries from financial markets and critical technology," FBI Director Kash Patel said in the news release.
- He added that the seizure highlights the success of "efforts to impose costs on the governments of Venezuela and Iran."
Judge Faraqui, a Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, was appointed to his present position in September, 2020. He appears to have ample experience dealing with cases like this:
Following law school, he was a litigation associate at Willkie Farr in Washington, D.C., where he focused on government investigations and general commercial litigation. Judge Faruqui then served for twelve years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices in St. Louis and Washington D.C. While there, he prosecuted cases involving terrorists use of cryptocurrency, North Korean weapons proliferation, darknet sites dedicated to child exploitation, and the theft of antiquities. He also represented the Department of Justice at numerous conferences across the globe on financial crimes, cryptocurrency, and national security issues.
That's good; a judge who knows his business and applies the law.
The loss of a million barrels of crude, even dirty Venezuelan crude, now that has to sting. While detonating drug-carrying speedboats is putting a lot of retail pressure on the Maduro regime, the seizure of this tanker is raising things to the wholesale level.
Read More: Venezuelan Tanker's GPS Deception Exposed: Loaded Millions in Sanctioned Venezuelan Oil
'Dark Fleet' Tanker Seized Near Venezuela Ran Sanctioned Oil to China, Says House Committee
Of course, this seizure raises one question: Are there more tramp tankers out there like the M/T Skipper? If so, are any of them filling up at Venezuelan ports, and if they are, when will be seizing them as well?
You review the (heavily redacted, likely so as not to give away methods and equipment employed in the seizure) here.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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