By arresting two ships in separate operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean on Wednesday, the United States stepped up its enforcement of a ban on Venezuelan oil exports, demonstrating Washington's intention to actively regulate the flow of Venezuelan crude through international markets.

According to Reuters, one of the ships was a tanker flying the Russian flag that was formerly known as the Bella 1 before being renamed Marinera. U.S. officials said that the tanker had violated American sanctions by attempting to sail into Venezuela in order to load oil.

Before boarding and detaining the tanker in international seas, U.S. forces chased it across the North Atlantic for weeks; at the time, it was not transporting oil.

Hours later, U.S. forces captured a second vessel, the M Sophia, which the military described as a stateless “dark fleet” tanker involved in sanctioned and illicit oil transport, in international waters in the Caribbean.

Officials said the ship had been engaged in unauthorized activity and was being escorted to the United States for legal proceedings and what they called “final disposition.”

The seizures coincided with Secretary of State Marco Rubio laying out the most detailed public outline yet of the administration’s Venezuela strategy.

Speaking at the Capitol on Wednesday, Rubio outlined a three-phase plan that starts with stabilizing Venezuela by seizing and selling between 30 and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, or roughly two months' worth of the nation's production. The United States, not Venezuela's interim authorities, will control the proceeds.

Rubio remarked, "That gives us tremendous leverage."

According to Rubio's suggestion, the next stage would concentrate on reintegrating opposition figures into the nation's political and civic life while also opening up Venezuela's energy industry to fair competition from Western, American, and other companies.