VIDEO | US military intercepts tanker in Indian Ocean over sanctions evasion

US military forces boarded a crude oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after pursuing it from the Caribbean, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday. He accused the vessel of breaching Washington's blockade on sanctioned vessels travelling to or from Venezuela.

"Overnight, US military forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding on the Aquila II without incident," Hegseth wrote in a post on social media. "It ran, and we followed."

After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid last month in Caracas, the US has escalated its blockade on vessels that are under sanctions. These vessels are going to and from the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil producers group.