US officials seize luxury jet used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro | US News
Venezuela’s version of Air Force One has been confiscated by US officials, alleging that the luxurious presidential jet was acquired illegally and smuggled out of the country to evade US export control regulations.
The white Dassault Falcon 900EX, utilized by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his spouse Cilia Flores for state visits, was seized in the Dominican Republic and flown to Florida, as stated by the US Justice Department on Monday.
Registered in San Marino, the aircraft was frequently used for overseas trips by Mr. Maduro and senior officials, including visits to Guyana and Cuba earlier this year.
According to officials, the plane, valued at $13m (£10m), was purchased from sellers in Florida between late 2022 and early 2023 through a Caribbean-based shell company to conceal the involvement of associates of the Venezuelan leader.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed that it was smuggled out of the US for the use of “Maduro and his cronies.”
Matthew Axelrod from the US Commerce Department mentioned, “Let this seizure deliver a clear message: aircraft obtained illegally from the United States for the benefit of sanctioned Venezuelan officials cannot just disappear.”
Less than a month after Mr. Maduro was reinstated to office in a strongly contested presidential election, where electoral authorities loyal to him declared him the winner without disclosing detailed results, the plane was taken into custody.
Opponents of the Maduro regime procured over 80% of vote tally sheets, indicating that he had actually lost by a significant margin to former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez.
The plane was earlier registered in the US and owned by Florida-based Six G Aviation before being exported to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and delisted in the US in January 2023 based on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records.
Washington has previously impounded a Boeing 747-300 cargo plane transferred from Iran to a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned airlines, along with multiple private jets owned by Venezuelan officials subjected to US sanctions or charges.
