U.S. seizes plane in Dominican Republic bought illegally in Florida by Venezuela's Maduro

Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The United States has seized an aircraft owned by Venezuela's hard-line President Nicolas Maduro and which allegedly was purchased and smuggled out of the country in violation of U.S. law, the Justice Department said Monday.

"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," Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote Monday in a news release .

The Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft, a three-engine corporate jet, had been seized by authorities in the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola before it was -- at the request of American officials -- transferred to U.S. control in Florida's Southern District based on alleged violations of U.S. export and sanctions laws.

DOJ's announcement occurred the same day Venezuelan prosecutors sought a warrant for the arrest of Maduro's opposition party's former presidential candidate Edmundo González.

Charges include forging public documents, conspiring against the government and promoting public disobedience.

Officials declared Maduro the winner of the disputed election contest that Gonzalez claims he won, which was supported by U.S. officials.

The United States contends the aircraft had been illegally exported from the United States and was used for the benefit of Maduro and his official representatives.

Garland says the U.S. government will continue pursuing those who violate U.S. sanctions and exports and "prevent them from using American resources to undermine the national security of the United States."

The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs and Homeland Security Investigations in Santo Domingo had provided "significant assistance" working with authorities in the Dominican Republic leading up to the aircraft's seizure.

The French-built aircraft had a $13 million value at the time when it had been illegally purchased allegedly by individuals affiliated with Venezuela's president, DOJ says.

A U.S. investigation that extended from late 2022 to early 2023 discovered how individuals affiliated with Maduro had allegedly used a Caribbean-based shell company to conceal involvement in the plane's illegal purchase from a Florida company, after which it made its way to Venezuela in April last year.

The plane's U.S. registration was canceled in January 2023. And often with Maduro on board, the aircraft had been documented as previously visiting St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba and Brazil and appears to be currently registered in the small European republic of San Marino, the Miami Herald reported.

DOJ says since May of last year the plane, bearing the tail number T7-ESPRT, had flown "almost exclusively to and from" a Venezuelan military base and was allegedly used to transport Maduro on out-of-country visits.

The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security's Miami Field Office is investigating the case along with the Homeland Security Investigations' El Dorado Task Force in Miami of the Department of Homeland Security.

A Commerce Department official said it does not matter "how fancy the private jet or how powerful the official" is and that the U.S. "will work relentlessly" with global allies "to identify and return any aircraft illegally smuggled outside" America.

"Let this seizure send a clear message: Aircraft illegally acquired from the United States for the benefit of sanctioned Venezuelan officials cannot just fly off into the sunset," the Commerce Department's Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod, said.

President Joe Biden had imposed a series of sanctions on the South American leader.

An August 2019 executive order signed by former President Donald Trump placed a series of other sanctions on the country and prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging in transactions with those who have directly or indirectly acted on behalf of the government of Venezuela and Maduro's regime.

"This successful seizure was the result of planning, coordination, and execution by the United States government, with invaluable assistance by the authorities in the Dominican Republic," U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, said.

"Our office, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to work to forfeit this plane and all other assets that circumvent the law," Lapointe added.

This comes as world leaders have recently called on Maduro to peacefully restore democratic norms in Venezuela following mass protests over last month's presidential election results which the U.S. claims were not free and fair.