US military forces boarded the sanctioned oil tanker Veronica III in the Indian Ocean on Sunday. The US tracked the vessel all the way from the Caribbean Sea. This operation aims to stop illegal oil shipments linked to Venezuela. The Pentagon said, "We defend the Homeland forward. Distance does not protect you." A video showed US troops boarding the ship without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility. The vessel had tried to avoid enforcement ordered by President Donald Trump. The Pentagon said, "The vessel tried to defy President Trump’s quarantine—hoping to slip away. We tracked it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, closed the distance, and shut it down. No other nation has the reach, endurance, or will to do this." They also warned, "International waters are not sanctuary. By land, air, or sea, we will find you and deliver justice. The Department of War will deny illicit actors and their proxies freedom of movement in the maritime domain." The Veronica III is a Panamanian-flagged ship under US sanctions related to Iran, according to the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. This action follows ongoing US sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector. Venezuela relies on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to move crude oil globally. Last December, President Trump ordered a quarantine of sanctioned tankers to pressure former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was captured in January during a US military operation. The US has seized several tankers to control Venezuela’s oil flow. Last week, US forces boarded another tanker, Aquila II, in the Indian Ocean. Authorities are currently deciding that ship’s fate.