The US could seize a Venezuelan-linked oil tanker off the Irish coast which evaded capture last month, according to intelligence officials.
The US has been pursuing the vessel, which was heading to Venezuela and is formerly known as Bella 1, for several weeks.
An American official familiar with the matter said last month the US coast guard was potentially planning to board the tanker in attempts to seize it.
The tanker has since been spotted in the Atlantic about 500 miles from the west coast of Ireland, The Telegraph reports.
The US coast guard have been pursuing the vessel for several weeks
|REUTERS
The ship is now known as Marinera and is sailing under the Russian flag.
Two intelligence officials with knowledge of the plans said the US would rather seize the ship than sink it, CBS reports.
The potential operation could replicate one carried out last month, which saw the US seize another oil tanker after it left port in Venezuela, they added.
Donald Trump previously ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in a move to increase pressure on the country's leader.
The US launched "large-scale airstrikes" on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, at around 1.50am local time (5.50am GMT) on Saturday.
Airstrikes were launched in Venezuela in the early hours of Saturday | REUTERSPresident Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and transported via helicopter to a US Navy ship offshore before being transported to New York City.
The Venezuelan leader was eventually taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn under a heavy police guard.
Images released by US authorities showed him handcuffed and blindfolded during the flight and later being led down a hallway at the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, where he was heard wishing a "happy New Year".
Maduro was indicted on various federal charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy.
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Maduro was captured alongside his wife by US special forces
| REUTERSAt a court hearing in the US today, Maduro pleaded not guilty to narcotics charges.
"I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country," the 63-year-old said through an interpreter, before being cut off by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan federal court.
His wife, Flores, also pleaded not guilty, insisting she is "completely innocent".
Maduro was then ordered to appear in court on March 17 for his next hearing.
The captured president's court appearance follows years of mounting legal pressure from the United States, which first indicted the Venezuelan president in 2020 on charges linked to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
US prosecutors allege that Maduro helped lead the so-called “Cartel of the Suns,” accused of conspiring with Colombia’s FARC rebels to flood the United States with cocaine.
The indictment claims Maduro used narcotics trafficking as a weapon against the US, while allegedly accepting millions of dollars in bribes to protect drug routes through Venezuela.
Washington has long accused his government of corruption, human rights abuses and undermining democratic institutions.
Maduro has consistently denied the allegations, dismissing them as politically motivated and part of a broader campaign to remove him from power.