U.S. Seizes Maduro’s Jet In The Dominican Republic

The United States has seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s airplane in the Dominican Republic after determining that its acquisition violated US sanctions.

The plane, a Dassault Falcon 900EX, was purchased in Florida, the Justice Department said, and was illegally exported in April 2023 to Venezuela. I Photo: ASL Group

The US flew the aircraft to Florida on Monday, according to two US officials, Priscilla Alvarez and Abel Alvarado, who reported for CNN.

“This sends a message all the way to the top,” one of the US officials told CNN. “Seizing a foreign head of state’s plane is unheard of in criminal matters. We’re sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is above the reach of US sanctions.”

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that “the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the US for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies.”

The plane, a Dassault Falcon 900EX, was purchased in Florida, the Justice Department said, and was illegally exported in April 2023 to Venezuela.

The Dominican Republic’s President Luis Abinader said the plane seized by the US on Monday was not registered under the name of the Venezuelan government but rather under “the name of an individual.”

The Dominican Republic's Foreign Minister, Roberto Álvarez, said the country’s Attorney General’s Office received an order last May from a national court to “immobilize” the plane.

The US had requested it be immobilized so they could search it for “evidence and objects linked to fraud activities, smuggling of goods for illicit activities, and money laundering,” he said.

The Venezuelan government described the seizure as “piracy” in a statement on Monday and accused Washington of escalating “aggression” toward Maduro’s government following a contested presidential election this July, Denise Royal, Stefano Pozzebon, Abel Alvarado, and Hannah Rabinowitz also reported for CNN.