Dec. 11 (UPI) — U.S. Treasury Department officials sanctioned three members of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s extended family and others for allegedly trafficking drugs and illicit oil.
Three nephews of Maduro’s wife, a Venezuelan businessman and six shipping companies and associated vessels were sanctioned on Thursday.
“Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news release announcing the sanctions.
“These sanctions undo the Biden Administration’s failed attempt to make a deal with Maduro, enabling his dictatorial and brutal control at the expense of the Venezuelan and American people,” Bessent continued.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury is holding the regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes.”
Two of three sanctioned nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, are identified as Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas.
They are narco-traffickers and “known popularly as the ‘narco-nephews,'” according to the Treasury Department.
Biden pardons the nephews
Both were arrested in Haiti in 2015 and accused of arranging the transportation of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to the United States.
They were convicted in 2016, but President Joe Biden pardoned them in 2022, and they have resumed their narco-trafficking activities, according to the Treasury Department.
A third nephew, Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, is a former “national treasurer of Venezuela” and a vice president of state-owned Venezuelan oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
He was sanctioned by the United States in 2017, but the Biden administration removed the sanction in 2022 amid a failed effort to resume democratic elections in Venezuela.
Despite existing sanctions against Venezuelan oil, Biden in 2023 signed an agreement allowing the limited sale of Venezuelan oil to buyers in the United States, the BBC reported.
The Treasury Department has restored the sanctions against him as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to pressure the Maduro regime to end its allegedly illegal and illicit activities.
The United States also has sanctioned Maduro, Cilia Flores and other members of the Maduro family.
Joining them is Ramon Carretero Napolitano of Panama for allegedly arranging valuable contracts with the Maduro regime, including shipping petroleum products on behalf of the Venezuelan government.
Sanctions on Venezuelan oil
Venezuela’s oil sector helps to fund Maduro’s regime, and the Treasury Department has sanctioned Myra Marine Ltd., Arctic Voyage Inc., Poweroy Investment Ltd., Ready Great Ltd., Sino Marine Services Ltd., and Full Happy Ltd., and their respective oil tankers for transporting illicit Venezuelan oil.
The sanctions against the Maduro family, oil and shipping firms and their six vessels mean any assets located in the United States or owned and controlled by U.S. citizens or residents are blocked and must be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The sanctions are a response to Maduro’s “dictatorial and brutal control” of Venezuela and are intended to hold the Maduro regime and its accomplices accountable, Bessent said.
The sanctions were announced a day after the United States seized an oil tanker near the Venezuelan coast.
U.S. to keep seized oil
The tanker is a “shadow” vessel that is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told media on Thursday.
“The vessel will go to a U.S. port, and the United States does intend to seize the oil,” Leavitt said.
“There is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed,” she added.
President Donald Trump does not view the seizure of the illicit oil as an escalation of tensions between the United States andVenezuela that might lead to war, Leavitt said.
“The president considers the seizure of the oil tanker as effectuating the administration’s sanctions policies,” she explained, as reported by The Hill.
Leavitt said the tanker was carrying oil from Venezuela to Iran.
The 20-year-old oil tanker is named The Skipper and was seized by military personnel from the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier that the Defense Department recently deployed to international waters near Venezuela, CBS News reported.
Coast Guard-led seizure
Two helicopters carrying special operations personnel, 10 members of the Coast Guard and 10 Marines participated in the operation to seize the vessel in accordance with a warrant.
The Coast Guard’s Maritime Security and Response team led the effort, as required by federal law, and was supported by Navy personnel.
The Coast Guard led the operation because it has jurisdiction over such seizures.
The Biden administration sanctioned The Skipper three years ago, when it sailed under the name Adisa and was controlled by Russian oil magnate Viktor Artemov, who also is sanctioned, according to the Treasury Department.
Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd. manages the 1,092-foot vessel, which is owned by a company with ties to Artemov.
It was flying a Guyana flag when seized, but Guyana officials said it is not registered there.
Guyana is adjacent to Venezuela, and Venezuelan officials called the vessel’s seizure a “shameless robbery and an act of international piracy,” CBS News reported.
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