NEW YORK, December 10. /TASS/. The US military intercepted and detained an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

According to the agency, the ship is on the sanctions list. Such a move, Bloomberg notes, "signifies a serious escalation between the two countries."

The report adds that the tanker’s detention could complicate Venezuelan oil exports, as other carriers may be less willing to load hydrocarbons from the country.

Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro has repeatedly warned that Venezuela is facing its most serious threat of invasion by the US in 100 years. Washington accuses the Venezuelan authorities of not doing enough to combat drug smuggling. Since September, the US Navy has deployed eight ships, one nuclear submarine, and more than 16,000 servicemen to the Caribbean Sea. They have destroyed at least 20 speedboats and killed 80 people in international waters who were baselessly accused of smuggling drugs from Venezuela. On November 16, the Pentagon announced that a strike group of US ships led by the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford had entered the Caribbean Sea.