The U.S. government has confiscated a plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, alleging that it was illegally acquired through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States. Officials cite violations of sanctions and export control laws as the basis for the seizure.
The aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 900EX, was flown to Florida on Monday after being seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to federal custody, according to the Justice Department. The plane, registered in San Marino, had flown to the Dominican Republic in March for what was purportedly maintenance. Described as Venezuela’s equivalent of Air Force One, the plane has been used by Maduro for international travel and state visits.
U.S. officials claim that associates of Maduro used a Caribbean-based shell company to conceal their role in purchasing the $13 million plane from a Florida company. The aircraft was exported from the U.S. to Venezuela via the Caribbean in April 2023, to evade an executive order prohibiting U.S. person from engaging in transactions with Maduro’s regime.
This seizure follows a contentious presidential election in Venezuela, where Maduro was declared the winner by loyalist authorities despite lacking detailed results, prompting international criticism. The opposition obtained over 80% of the vote tally sheets, claiming these documents show Maduro lost to former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez by a significant margin.
In response to the seizure, Venezuela’s government denounced the U.S. action as “piracy” and a continuation of unlawful practices.
This move follows a previous U.S. seizure of a Boeing 747-300 cargo plane in Argentina, which had been transferred from Iran to a Venezuelan state-owned airline subsidiary. U.S. federal prosecutors have also targeted several private jets owned by Venezuelan government officials and associates who are either sanctioned or indicted in the U.S. The U.S. has sanctioned 55 Venezuelan-registered planes, mainly those belonging to the state oil company PDVSA.
Additionally, the U.S. has offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest on federal drug trafficking charges in New York.
