The Trump administration has moved to sanction three of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s nephews and Panamanian businessman Ramon Carretero following the seizure of an oil tanker by U.S. forces.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) late Thursday imposed sanctions on Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores, and Efrain Campo—nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores—and Ramon Carretero, who is accused of facilitating the illicit shipment of sanctioned petroleum on behalf of the Maduro regime. All three individuals are alleged to be narco-traffickers operating in Venezuela.
In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people.” He added, “These sanctions undo the Biden Administration’s failed attempt to make a deal with Maduro, enabling his dictatorial and brutal control at the expense of the Venezuelan and American people.”
Additionally, OFAC announced sanctions against several shipping companies operating in Venezuela’s oil sector. The move comes days after U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. The Skipper supertanker, carrying oil allegedly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and bound for Cuba, was taken over by the U.S. Coast Guard with Navy support on Wednesday in a dramatic operation.
The White House released footage showing U.S. forces airdropping onto the tanker by helicopter. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the vessel as a “shadow vessel” carrying black market oil. The seized oil will be retained by the United States, while the crew is scheduled to be released after docking in Texas.
