US seizes Venezuelan president’s Falcon 900EX
The US Justice Department has seized a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft owned and operated for the benefit of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro Moros, based on violations of US export control and sanctions laws, the Department has confirmed.
“This morning, 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,” stated Attorney General Merrick Garland. The aircraft was seized in the Dominion Republic and transferred to the Southern District of Florida “with invaluable assistance by the authorities in the Dominican Republic,” added US Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida.
The Justice Department explains that “according to US investigation, in late 2022 and early 2023, persons affiliated with Maduro allegedly used a Caribbean-based shell company to conceal their involvement in the illegal purchase of the Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft (which at the time was valued at approximately $13 million”. The aircraft was “then illegally exported from the US to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023,” and has been subsequently flown “almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela.
The Venezuelan government has not commented on the allegations. A US Department of Commerce spokesperson stated: “Let this seizure send a clear message: aircraft illegally acquired from the United States for the benefit of sanctioned Venezuela officials cannot just fly off into the sunset,” adding that “it doesn’t matter how fancy the private jet or how powerful the officials”.
