Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday addressed the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker near Venezuela, saying the Coast Guard–led operation was carried out in coordination with the Departments of Defense and Justice, as well as the FBI.

“It was a successful operation directed by the president to ensure that we’re pushing back on a regime that is systematically covering and flooding our country with deadly drugs and killing our next generation of Americans,” she said.

President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday about the seizure as his administration continues to escalate military activity in the region.

“As you probably know, we’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela,” Trump said. “Large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized actually.”

Trump did not provi

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