The United States Department of Justice has filed a formal complaint in the District of Columbia to seize the Motor Tanker (M/T) Skipper and its massive cargo of approximately 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil. The vessel, which was intercepted by U.S. authorities on the high seas in December 2025, is alleged to be part of a shadow fleet used to bankroll the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Qods Force, both designated foreign terrorist organizations.
The investigation
According to federal officials, including U.S. attorney general Pamela Bondi and Federal Bureau of Investigation director Kash Patel, the Skipper (formerly known as the Adisa) has spent years evading international sanctions. The investigation revealed a sophisticated scheme active since 2021, where the tanker:
- concealed its location through “spoofing” technology.
- flew false flags (most recently claiming to be Guyanese, rendering it stateless).
- conducted ship-to-ship transfers to move Iranian and Venezuelan oil to “rogue regimes,” including a 3-million-barrel delivery to Syria in 2024.
The recent seizure
In November 2025, the vessel loaded oil at Venezuela’s José Terminal. Documents indicated that 1.1 million barrels were destined for Cubametales, Cuba’s state-run oil company. On December 10, 2025, U.S. law enforcement executed a seizure warrant on the high seas. The ship and its cargo have since been diverted to the coast of Texas.
Official statements
U.S. Department of Justice leadership emphasized that this action is part of a broader strategy to dismantle the financial networks of foreign adversaries. Assistant attorney general A. Tysen Duva described the Skipper as a ghost tanker that had operated with impunity for years. U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro warned that there would be no safe harbor for those attempting to bypass U.S. sanctions.
“This forfeiture complaint for the M/T Skipper and its oil cargo demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering commitment to enforcing U.S. sanctions and thwarting hostile regimes who exploit the global oil trade,” Patel stated. “The FBI, working alongside our interagency partners, will continue aggressively identifying, disrupting, and dismantling the financial networks used by our foreign adversaries to fund terrorist organizations and destabilize international security. We remain steadfast in safeguarding both the integrity of the international financial system and the security of the American people.”
CONAN Daily 