US seizes Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro’s airplane in the Dominican Republic

(CNN) — The United States has seized Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro’s airplane after determining that its acquisition was in violation of US sanctions, among other criminal issues. The US flew the aircraft to Florida on Monday, according to two US officials.

It’s the latest development in what has long been a frosty relationship between the US and Venezuela, and its seizure in the Dominican Republic marks an escalation as the US continues to investigate what it regards as corrupt practices by Venezuela’s government.

The plane has been described by officials as Venezuela’s equivalent to Air Force One and it  has been pictured in previous state visits by Maduro around the world.

Sending a message

“This sends a message all the way up to the top,” one of the US officials told CNN. “Seizing the foreign head of state’s plane is unheard-of for 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.”

In a statement, 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 United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies.”

The plane, a Dassault Falcon 900EX, was purchased from a company in Florida, the Justice Department said, and was illegally exported in April 2023 from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean. It was used for Maduro’s international travels, and flew “almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela,” according to the Justice Department.

Records show that the plane’s last registered flight was in March, flying from Caracas to the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo.

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.

“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,” it said.

“The United States has already demonstrated that it uses its economic and military power to intimidate and pressure states such as the Dominican Republic to serve as accomplices in its criminal acts. This is an example of the supposed ‘rules-based order’, which, disregarding international law, seeks to establish the law of the strongest,” it said.

Multiple agencies involved

For years, US officials have sought to disrupt the flow of billions of dollars to the regime. Homeland Security Investigations — the second largest investigative agency in the federal government — has seized dozens of luxury vehicles, among other assets, heading to Venezuela.

“The plane was seized in violation of US sanctions with Venezuela and other criminal matters that we’re still looking at regarding this aircraft,” Anthony Salisbury,
Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations told CNN.

A high-ranking official from the Dominican Republic told CNN that Maduro’s aircraft had been in Dominican territory undergoing maintenance at the time it was seized by US authorities. The source added that the government had no record that Maduro’s private plane was in the country until it was seized.

US officials worked closely with the Dominican Republic, which notified Venezuela of the seizure, according to one of the US officials.

Multiple federal agencies were involved in the seizure, including Homeland Security Investigations; Commerce agents, the Bureau of Industry and Security; and the Justice Department.

One of the next steps, upon arriving to the US, will be pursuing forfeiture, meaning the Venezuelan government has a chance to petition for it, and collecting evidence from the aircraft.

Pressure placed on Venezuela

The US recently placed pressure on the Venezuelan government to “immediately” release specific data regarding its presidential election, citing concerns about the credibility of Maduro’s claimed victory.

Venezuela’s opposition has published more than 80% of tallies printed and collected from voting machines across the country. Though partial, the documentation appears to show that the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia actually won the vote, several experts told CNN.

The situation in Venezuela has had implications for US politics as millions flee the country, many of whom have chosen to migrate to the US-Mexico border.

Earlier this year, the US reimposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas sector in response to the Maduro government’s failure to allow “an inclusive and competitive election” to take place.

After the controversial reelection of Maduro on July 28, Venezuela suspended commercial flights to and from the Dominican Republic.

Federal agencies, including HSI, have long been going after the Venezuelan government over corruption concerns. Over recent years, HSI has disrupted $2 billion worth of the Venezuelan government’s illicit proceeds or resources, including judgements, seizures, liquidation of bank accounts, according to one of the US officials.

Charges filed

In March 2020, the US Department of Justice charged Maduro, together with 14 current and former Venezuelan officials, with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and corruption.

“For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with (Colombian left-wing guerrilla group) the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities.,” then-Attorney General William Barr said at the time.

The State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction.

In 2017, two nephews of Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores were sentenced to 18 years in prison by a federal court in New York City for trying to smuggle up to 800 kilograms of cocaine into the United States on a private jet; the two were later released by the United States in a prisoners’ exchange in 2022.

“We see these officials and the Maduro regime basically fleecing the Venezuelan people for their own gain,” the US official said. “You have people who can’t even afford a loaf of bread there and then you have the president of Venezuela jetting around in a high-class private jet.”

Poor economic conditions, food shortages and limited access to health care have pushed more than 7.7 million people to flee Venezuela, marking the largest displacement in the Western Hemisphere.