MIAMI: The United States on Monday seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s plane in the Dominican Republic and flew the jet to Florida, adding it acted over violation of US sanctions.
United States personnel moved to take the plane, a Dassault Falcon 900EX private jet used by Nicolas Maduro and his officials, with the Justice Department saying the aircraft was “unlawfully purchased.”
“The Justice Department seized a plane we allege was unlawfully purchased for $13 million through a shell firm and smuggled out of the US for use by Maduro and his associates,” Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed.
Plane tracking site Flightradar24 showed that the jet flew from Santo Domingo to Fort Lauderdale on Monday. The United States says that in late 2022 and early 2023, people affiliated with Maduro allegedly used a Caribbean-based shell firm to conceal their involvement in the unlawful purchase of the jet.
The aircraft was then unlawfully exported from the US to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023. Since May 2023, the plane has flown exclusively to and from a military base in the South American country.
Venezuela was rocked by protest demonstrators when Maduro was declared the winner of a controversial July 28 polls, with dozens killed and over 2,400 people arrested. The opposition party claims it won by a landslide and that it has the voting records to verify it.
