The United States (US) has seized the Venezuelan President’s Dassault Falcon 900EX in the Dominican Republic and transferred the jet to Florida.
In a statement on September 2, 2024, the Justice Department said that the seizure was initiated after the Dassault Falcon 900EX was allegedly illegally obtained in the US and flown out of the country.
“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 Nicolás Maduro and his cronies,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The Department will continue to pursue those who violate our sanctions and export controls to prevent them from using American resources to undermine the national security of the United States.”
The US claims that the aircraft was illegally exported from the US to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023, and since May 2023, has been used to transport President Nicolas Maduro and his “cronies” on visits to other countries.
Since August 2019, US citizens have been prohibited from “engaging in transactions with persons who have acted or purported to act directly or indirectly for or on behalf of, the Government of Venezuela, including as a member of the Maduro regime”.
“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,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod of the Department of Commerce. “It doesn’t matter how fancy the private jet or how powerful the officials – we will work relentlessly with our partners here and across the globe to identify and return any aircraft illegally smuggled outside of the United States.”
According to CNN, the Dominican Republic government were ordered to “immobilize” the plane by the US last May, however it was unaware that it belonged to the Venezuelan government as the jet was registered under “the name of an individual”.
The plane was understood to be undergoing maintenance work, and the Dominican Republic government had no record that Maduro’s Dassault Falcon was in the country until it was seized, according to a source that spoke with CNN.
“Once again, the authorities of the USA, in a recurring criminal practice that could not be labeled anything but piracy, have illegally seized an aircraft that has been used by the president of the Republic, justifying its action in coercive measures that, illegally and unilaterally, they impose around the world,” the Venezuelan government said in a statement.