US Seizes Venezuelan President Maduro's Airplane in Dominican Republic

In an unprecedented move, the United States has seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s airplane, marking a significant escalation in the strained relationship between the two countries. The aircraft, which was seized in the Dominican Republic, was flown to Florida on Monday, according to two US officials.

The seizure comes after the US determined that the acquisition of the plane violated US sanctions and was linked to other criminal activities. This action underscores the ongoing tensions between the US and Venezuela, with the US continuing to investigate alleged corrupt practices by the Venezuelan government.

“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.”

The plane, described by officials as Venezuela’s equivalent to Air Force One, has been used by Maduro for state visits around the world. The Dominican Republic’s President Luis Abinader stated that the plane was not registered under the Venezuelan government’s name but rather under “the name of an individual.”

Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic Roberto Álvarez explained that the country’s Attorney General’s Office received an order last May from a national court to “immobilize” the plane. The US had requested its immobilization to search for “evidence and objects linked to fraud activities, smuggling of goods for illicit activities and money laundering,” he said.

In a statement, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “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 and illegally exported in April 2023 from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean. It was primarily 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,” the statement read.

“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 continued.

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

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.

The Dominican Republic’s Foreign Minister said the government did not participate in the US’ investigation and only “international legal cooperation” was required under the two countries’ bilateral agreements.

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

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 judgments, seizures, and liquidation of bank accounts, according to one of the US officials.

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 healthcare have pushed more than 7.7 million people to flee Venezuela, marking the largest displacement in the Western Hemisphere.