The United States on Monday seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane in the Dominican Republic and flew the jet to Florida, saying it acted over violation of US sanctions.
United States officials moved to take the aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 900EX private jet used by Maduro and members of his government, with the Justice Department saying the plane was “illegally purchased”.
“The Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Aircraft tracking site Flightradar24 showed that the jet flew from Santo Domingo to Fort Lauderdale on Monday morning.
The US says that in late 2022 and early 2023, individuals affiliated with Maduro allegedly used a Caribbean-based shell company to conceal their involvement in the illegal purchase of the jet.
The aircraft was then illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023.
Since May 2023, the plane has flown almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela.
