US reportedly pursuing third oil tanker linked to Venezuela

The move comes days after President Donald Trump said that he was ordering a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

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US authorities have already seized two oil tankers this month - one of them on Saturday.

Sunday's pursuit related to a "sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela's illegal sanctions evasion", a US official told the BBC's partner CBS News. "It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order."

The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using oil money to fund drug-related crime, while Venezuela has described the tanker seizures as "piracy".

According to the New York Times (NYT), late on Saturday the US Coast Guard approached an oil tanker, which US officials said was not flying a valid national flag.