Marinera (Bella-1) tanker has been secured by U.S Forces
The United States has carried out an operation to seize a Venezuela-linked tanker formerly known as Bella-1
Continue readingU.S. Strikes Land Target in Venezuela
President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States struck a Venezuelan “dock area” he described as linked to drug-running boats, claiming a “major explosion” at a site where traffickers “load the boats up with drugs,” according to the BBC.
While Trump declined to identify who carried out the attack, telling reporters, “I don’t want to say that” when asked about the CIA, the BBC reported there has been no official confirmation from Caracas and no strike footage has been released the way the Pentagon has publicized prior maritime interdiction strikes.
U.S. officials familiar with the operation, however, told CNN the CIA conducted a drone strike earlier this month on a remote port/dock facility on Venezuela’s coast, which U.S. intelligence assessed was being used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store narcotics and move them onto boats for onward shipment. The network reported no one was present at the time of the strike and no casualties resulted.
The New York Times separately reported that the strike occurred last week and described it as the first known U.S. operation inside Venezuela during the Trump administration’s pressure campaign, targeting a dock believed to be involved in staging narcotics for loading onto boats. The Times said Trump had mentioned the incident twice in recent days, first in a radio interview and again on Monday. His first mention can be listened to below.
Key operational details remain contested. CNN reported that sources described U.S. Special Operations Forces as providing intelligence support, but a U.S. Special Operations Command spokesperson denied any support “to include intel support.” The CIA declined to comment to CNN, while the Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which has not provided a detailed public account at the time of publication.
The reported land strike comes as Washington intensifies a wider campaign that has combined counter-narcotics justification with escalating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have been occurring since September. It appears the operation has now expanded from maritime strikes, to tanker seizures, to clandestine land strikes.
A new boat strike occurred yesterday, bringing the total number to 30 (31 if you count the dock), with the U.S. reporting 106 total individuals killed in those strikes.
Bella 1 Still On the Run
UPDATE (1431 EST 12/31/25): Bella 1 is still on the run. CNN reports this morning that the White House believes Bella 1 no longer intends to make port in Venezuela, and might choose to give up the chase for the sanctioned vessel with ties to Iran after almost two weeks, despite being unclear about the cargo, or why the crew chose to flee. USN/USCG assets remain on standby, should the order come to seize the vessel by force.
Original Article: According to The NewYork Times, the U.S.-sanctioned oil tanker Bella 1 remains on the run in the Atlantic after refusing to comply with a U.S. Coast Guard interception attempt on Dec. 21 in the Caribbean Sea. U.S. officials told the newspaper the vessel was moving toward Venezuela to take on oil when the Coast Guard moved to stop it, but the ship continued underway and has been pursued since.
The tanker’s track has since shifted. U.S. officials briefed on the operation said Bella 1 recently altered course northwest, steering away from the Mediterranean, potentially towards waters near Greenland or Iceland. The officials don’t believe the ship to be carrying cargo. During the escape, the crew reportedly painted a Russian flag on the side of the vessel and is now claiming Russian status—an apparent attempt to complicate any boarding or seizure effort.
Given a rough heading NNE and a constant speed of 10kts, members of Faytuks Network’s all-volunteer OSINT team put Bella 1’s position potentially somewhere near the Azores, heading north for the Norwegian Sea and perhaps a final destination of Murmansk, Russia. Another posited destination is Iran, in which case she could potentially head for the Strait of Gibraltar.
Federal officials have obtained a seizure warrant tied to Bella 1’s prior involvement in transporting Iranian oil, saying the ship is associated with a broader “ghost fleet” used to move oil for sanctioned regimes. Officials indicate that additional tanker seizures tied to Venezuela’s oil trade are planned as the U.S. expands efforts to curtail illicit oil revenue streams supporting the Maduro regime in Caracas.