U.S. Seizes Maduro's $13M Jet: Sanctions Violation Exposed

The U.S. government has taken possession of a luxury jet associated with Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela since 2013. This action is part of ongoing efforts to enforce sanctions against the Venezuelan regime, which have been in place since 2015.

The aircraft in question, a Dassault Falcon 900EX valued at $13 million, was seized in the Dominican Republic and subsequently transferred to Florida. U.S. officials allege that the jet was illegally acquired through a Caribbean-based shell company in late 2022 and early 2023, violating existing sanctions and export control laws.

According to the Justice Department, the plane was exported from the United States to Venezuela via the Caribbean in April 2023, circumventing an executive order prohibiting U.S. entities from conducting business with representatives of the Maduro administration. The aircraft, previously registered in San Marino, had been widely used by Maduro for international travel, including visits to Guyana and Cuba, nations with which Venezuela maintains significant diplomatic ties.

Notably, the plane was involved in a prisoner exchange on a Caribbean airstrip in December 2023, where several Americans detained in Venezuela were swapped for Alex Saab, a close ally of Maduro who was imprisoned in the U.S. on money laundering charges.

"It had been smuggled out of the U.S. for use by Maduro and his cronies."

The seizure announcement comes amid ongoing political tensions in Venezuela. Recently, electoral authorities aligned with the ruling party declared Maduro the winner in presidential elections, a claim that has drawn international criticism due to a lack of transparency. Opposition figures assert that vote tally sheets indicate Maduro lost by a significant margin to former diplomat Edmundo González.

This action is not isolated, as it follows the U.S. government's previous seizure of a Boeing 747-300 cargo plane in Argentina, which had been transferred from Iran to a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned airline. The U.S. has also sanctioned 55 Venezuelan-registered planes, primarily belonging to PDVSA, the state-owned oil giant.

The U.S. Commerce Department's Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, Matthew Axelrod, emphasized the message behind this seizure, stating that aircraft illegally acquired for sanctioned Venezuelan officials cannot evade consequences.

It's worth noting that the U.S. government has offered a $15 million bounty for Maduro's arrest on federal drug trafficking charges in New York, further highlighting the strained relations between the two countries.

As of September 2, 2024, the Venezuelan government has not responded to requests for comment on this latest development.