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The United States seized a plane owned by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the Dominican Republic, Fox News has confirmed.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) flew Maduro's personal plane back to the United States Monday morning, when it landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is now in U.S. custody, a U.S. official told Fox News following an initial report by CNN.
The plane, described by officials as Maduro’s version of "Air Force One," is used for Maduro’s state visits around the world and was seized in the Dominican Republic after it was purchased through a straw company in violation of sanctions laws and export controls, the official said. U.S. authorities cited a specific violation of U.S. executive order 13884, signed by former President Donald Trump in 2019.
The plane, valued at $13 million, is a Dassault Falcon 900-EX. The seizure was a result of a joint investigation with HSI and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"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," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "The Department will continue to pursue those who violate our sanctions and export controls to prevent them from using American resources to undermine the national security of the United States."
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's plane is seen on a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, tarmac after U.S. authorities seized the aircraft and flew it from the Dominican Republic. (WFOR)
"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," Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod, of the Department of Commerce, added. "It doesn’t matter how fancy the private jet or how powerful the officials – we will work relentlessly with our partners here and across the globe to identify and return any aircraft illegally smuggled outside of the United States."
The seizure is expected to further frost relations between the U.S. and Venezuela.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
In August 2019, Trump issued Executive Order 13884, which prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with persons who have acted or purported to act directly or indirectly for or on behalf of, the government of Venezuela, including as a member of the Maduro regime. To protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, the Department of Commerce has also imposed export controls for items intended, entirely or in part, for a Venezuelan military or military-intelligence end user, the Justice Department said Monday.
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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, from a company based in the Southern District of Florida, according to U.S. investigators.
Government loyalists hold a poster of the late former President Hugo Chavez outside the presidential palace during a rally in support of President Nicolás Maduro's re-election in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Federal investigators say the aircraft was then illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023. Since May 2023, the Dassault Falcon, bearing tail number T7-ESPRT, "has flown almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela and has been used for the benefit of Maduro and his representatives, including to transport Maduro on visits to other countries," the DOJ said.
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The Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security Miami Field Office is investigating the case, along with the DHS, HSI El Dorado Task Force Miami.
Fox News' David Spunt contributed to this report.
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