WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. military forces boarded another sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela, the Pentagon said Sunday.
Venezuela had faced U.S. sanctions on its oil for several years, relying on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. President Donald Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers in December to pressure then-President Nicolás Maduro before Maduro was apprehended in January during an American military operation.
Several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast in the wake of the raid, including the ship that was boarded in the Indian Ocean overnight. The Defense Department said in a post on X that U.S. forces boarded the Veronica III, conducting “a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding.”
“The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine — hoping to slip away,” the Pentagon said. “We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down.”
Video posted by the Pentagon shows U.S. troops boarding the tanker.
The Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged vessel under U.S. sanctions related to Iran, according to the website of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The Panama Maritime Authority said Sunday in a brief statement that the ship was no longer registered there and had been canceled in December 2024.
The Veronica III left Venezuela on Jan. 3, the same day as Maduro's capture, with nearly 2 million barrels of crude and fuel oil, TankerTrackers.com posted Sunday on X.
“Since 2023, she’s been involved with Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan oil,” the organization said.
Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, told The Associated Press in January that his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document that at least 16 tankers left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine.
The Trump administration has been seizing tankers as part of its broader efforts to take control of the Venezuela's oil. The Pentagon did not say in the post whether the Veronica III was formally seized and placed under U.S. control, and later told the AP in an email that it had no additional information to provide beyond that post.
Last week, the U.S. military boarded a different tanker in the Indian Ocean, the Aquila II. The ship was being held while its ultimate fate was decided by the United States, according to a defense official who spoke last week on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing decision-making.
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Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Alma Solís in Panama City contributed to this report.
FILE - The Pentagon, the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense, is seen from the air, Sept. 20, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, FIle)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo says he’s healthy and wants to play even as the Milwaukee Bucks continue to say the two-time MVP is too injured to take the floor.
Antetokounmpo missed a 10th straight game on Friday night against the Boston Celtics due to what the team has described as a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since landing awkwardly during a March 15 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
“I’m healthy,” Antetokounmpo told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Athletic before Friday’s game. “I hate it when people force me to do things against my nature. I’m a player. I get paid to play.”
For the last couple of weeks, Antetokounmpo has participated in pregame warmups without showing any apparent signs of injury.
Antetokounmpo also noted that the Bucks should have known this about him since the 31-year-old has spent his entire 13-year career in Milwaukee.
Throughout that time, Antetokounmpo has had a reputation for rapid returns from injury, most notably when he hyperextended his knee during Milwaukee’s 2021 playoff run but missed two games before returning to lead the Bucks to their first title in half a century.
“You know who you’re dealing with,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “So, for somebody to come and tell me to not play or to not compete, it’s like a slap in my face.”
The Bucks still had a remote chance of earning a 10th straight playoff berth at the time of that Indiana game, but they were officially eliminated from contention last week. There’s also the possibility of Antetokounmpo getting hurt again if he returns to action — he has missed a career-high 41 games this season and had two extended absences due to calf strains.
“I understand the circumstances — yes, we’re not going to be in the playoffs,” Antetokounmpo said. “For some people’s eyes, it’s not worth it for me to be out there. But for me, it’s something that goes against my nature.”
Antetokounmpo also wanted the opportunity to play alongside his younger brother, Alex, who made his NBA debut Sunday. There was a possibility of three Antetokounmpo brothers playing alongside each other in the same game, since Giannis’ older brother, Thanasis, also is on the Bucks.
“When my dad passed away, I pretty much raised (Alex),” Antetokounmpo said. “He’s able to be on the team and suit up and chase an opportunity to be great. You really think I don’t want to suit up and play with my brother? Anybody who thinks that is an idiot.”
Antetokounmpo’s desire to play — and the Bucks’ wishes to rest him — drew the attention of the National Basketball Players Association last month.
“The Player Participation Policy was designed by the league to hold teams accountable and ensure that when an All-Star like Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy and ready to play, he is on the court,” the union said in a statement. “Unfortunately, anti-tanking policies are only as effective as their enforcement; fans, broadcast partners, and the integrity of the game itself will continue to suffer as long as ownership goes unchecked. We look forward to collaborating with the NBA on meaningful new proposals that will directly address and discourage tanking.”
This dispute between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks comes at a time when his future in Milwaukee is uncertain. Antetokounmpo’s name dominated league-wide discussions leading up to the trade deadline, though the Bucks ultimately kept him.
Antetokounmpo becomes eligible to sign a four-year contract extension worth up to $275 million in October. If he doesn’t sign the extension, Antetokounmpo could become a free agent after the 2026-27 season, or the Bucks could decide to trade him beforehand.
Now they find themselves at odds over how to handle the rest of this season.
“I don’t know where the relationship goes from there,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve got to go to couples therapy.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Injured Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, center right, talks with an official, center left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
