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The aircraft used by the state-owned Venezuelan Natural Gas Company to circumvent US sanctions and export control laws in the interest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was seized in the Dominican Republic on Thursday, authorities said.
The seizure of the Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft used by SA (PDVSA), a sanctioned Venezuela, the state-owned oil and natural gas company, is a Caribbean country that was used by Secretary of State Marco Rubio for conversations with the president I came when I visited.
“The seizure of this Venezuelan aircraft used to avoid US sanctions and money laundering is a powerful example of a determination to hold the illegal Maduro administration responsible for illegal actions,” Rubio said in X. I’m writing this in.
“Together with Dominican Republic and regional partners, we will continue to counter the scheme to avoid US sanctions.”
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the right, listens to Edwin F. Lopez, the adjacent attaché of the DHS Homeland Security Survey next to the Venezuelan government plane announced by Rubio (AP Photo/Mark Sieferbein)
The attack comes from a 2019 executive order during President Donald Trump’s first term in office to prohibit him from doing business with anyone who worked on behalf of the PDVSA. In January 2020, the Ministry of Finance’s Bureau of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified 15 aircraft that fall under the order.
The PDVSA purchased the plane from the US in July 2017 and exported it to Venezuela where it was registered under tail number YV-3360, the Department of Justice said.
Despite sanctions being imposed on the PDVSA, the planes are still being maintained and maintained on multiple occasions using US parts, officials said. The service includes brake assembly, electronic flight displays and flight management computers, all in violation of the US export control and sanctions laws.
A “confiscated” sign will be placed on a Venezuelan government plane at a press conference on the right where U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the seizure at La Isabella International Airport in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“It is unbearable to use and maintain American-made parts to serve and maintain aircraft operated by authorized entities such as PDVSA,” said the Department of Justice National Safety. said Devin Debacker, director of the Security Bureau.
“The Department of Justice, together with federal law enforcement partners, protects national security by identifying, disrupting and dismantling schemes aimed at procuring American goods in violation of sanctions and export control laws. I’ll continue doing it.”
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The photo was released by Venezuelan presidential press, and President Nicolas Maduro, who was also involved in the film with President Donald Trump’s envoy, Richard Grenell, at the Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela on January 31, 2025. It shows you are shaking your hands. AP)
Among its uses, the plane was said to have been used to bring Venezuela’s Minister of Oil and Petroleum Manuel Salvador Quebedo Fernandez to an OPEC conference in the United Arab Emirates.
The aircraft were used to continue the misappropriation of the administration’s PDVSA assets, the DOJ said.
In September, a plane owned by Maduro was also seized in the Dominican Republic. Homeland Security Survey (HSI) quickly returned the Dassault Falcon 900EX to the United States.
“Asset confiscation is a powerful law enforcement tool that we actively use to stop, disrupt and fight criminal activity,” said U.S. lawyer Hayden Ovillund.
A Maduro plane in Fort Lauderdale, Tarmac, after US authorities seized the aircraft and flew from the Dominican Republic. The plane was seized in September 2024. (WFOR)
Maduro began his third six-year term as president last month despite widespread skepticism about the legitimacy of his election victory.
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International and domestic critics have questioned the fairness of the election process. Maduro claimed a victory of over 1 million votes. However, it is widely believed that opposition candidate Edmund Gonzalez won by a landslide.
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