The US special forces veteran who spirited Nobel laureate María Corina Machado out of Venezuela has begged her not to return to the country, after a perilous rescue mission that lasted nearly 16 hours and was carried out largely in the middle of the night through rough waters.

The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaçao, which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York City’s JFK airport. It comes as the U.S. military has stepped up its drug interdiction activities in the Caribbean and is also seeking to increase pressure on Venezuela’s government.

The Trump administration says the tanker was involved in “illicit oil shipping”, but Venezuela accuses the US of “theft” and “piracy”.