The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on four Venezuelan oil companies and added four more oil tankers to its list of blocked property, accusing them of supporting President Nicolás Maduro’s government through a shadow fleet.

The move is part of the Trump administration’s sustained campaign to pressure Maduro. U.S. authorities have also seized two tankers off Venezuela’s coast, pursued another vessel, and carried out a series of strikes targeting suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

The attacks announced Wednesday raised the reported death toll to at least 110 since early September. Last week, the CIA reportedly conducted a drone strike at a Venezuelan docking area used by drug cartels, marking the first known operation directly on Venezuelan soil.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated the ships Nord Star, Lunar Tide, Rosalind, and Della, along with their ownership companies. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the sanctions are intended to “disrupt the network supporting Maduro and his illegitimate regime.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized that the U.S. will prevent Maduro’s government from profiting from oil exports while allegedly trafficking drugs into the country. President Trump has called for a blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan tankers and demanded the return of assets previously seized from U.S. oil firms.

Source: AP