U.S. forces stopped an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks on Saturday, as part of a continued effort to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The operation, which took place in the pre-dawn hours, involved the U.S. Coast Guard and the Defense Department, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Noem confirmed the incident on social media, posting an unclassified video of a U.S. helicopter landing personnel on a vessel called Centuries, a crude oil tanker flying under the flag of Panama. The vessel had recently been spotted near the Venezuelan coast, according to MarineTraffic, a project that tracks the movement of vessels around the globe using publicly available data. It was not immediately clear if the vessel was under U.S. sanctions.

The operation comes just days after President Donald Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of Venezuela. The move is part of a broader effort to pressure Maduro's government, which the U.S. has accused of human rights abuses and corruption. The U.S. has also imposed strict economic sanctions on Venezuela, citing the country's ties to narco-terrorism.

The U.S. has seized at least two oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks, including a tanker seized on December 10. The seizures are part of a larger effort to disrupt the flow of oil from Venezuela, which is a major source of revenue for Maduro's government.

The operation has been met with criticism from some in Venezuela, who view it as an escalation of U.S. interference in the country's internal affairs. "This is a clear example of U.S. aggression against our country," said Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza. "We will not be intimidated by these actions."

The U.S. has maintained that its actions are necessary to prevent the flow of oil from Venezuela from being used to fund narco-terrorism. "The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco-terrorism in Venezuela," said a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State.

The current status of the oil tanker and its crew is not clear, and it is not known if any charges will be filed against the vessel or its operators. The incident is likely to further escalate tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela, and could have significant implications for the global oil market.