United States government agents seized a Dassault Falcon 900EX, a plane used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, citing violations of US sanctions and export control laws. The seizure, which occurred in the Dominican Republic was a joint operation by the departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Commerce, among other federal agencies. The aircraft was transported to the executive airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Monday, by agents of the Homeland Security Investigations(HSI).
Dominican authorities reportedly assisted US government officials in Monday's operation.
Officials say the plane was illegally purchased through a shell company, and allegedly orchestrated by associates of Maduro in late 2022 and early 2023. The plane, valued at $13 million, was exported from the US to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023.
The aircraft's registration in the US was canceled in January 2023, according to public records from the Federal Aviation Administration, because it was exported to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Records from the FAA show that a Florida-based company sold the plane to a Limited Liability Company there, but the St. Vincent and the Grenadine’s company registry records do not appear to have a company by that name. it is unclear whether the Caribbean country's government was aware of the sale of the plane to Venezuela. Grenadines’s Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves congratulated Maduro on his recent claimed electoral victory.
The seized plane was used extensively for foreign travel by Maduro, including trips to Guyana and Cuba earlier this year and a US-Venezuelan prisoner swap in December.
“Let this seizure send a clear message: aircraft illegally acquired from the United States for the benefit of sanctioned Venezuelan officials cannot just fly off into the sunset,” Matthew Axelrod, an assistant secretary for export enforcement in the Commerce Department, stated.
The seizure comes just weeks after Maduro claimed victory in Venezuelan elections which was widely believed to have been won by the opposition party.
