US seizes Venezuelan plane used by Maduro regime
An aircraft used by a state-owned Venezuelan natural gas company to evade U.S. sanctions and export control laws for the benefit of the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was seized in the Dominican Republic on Thursday, authorities confirmed. The Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft belonged to Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), the sanctioned Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural-gas company.
The seizure of the aircraft came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Caribbean nation for talks with its president. Rubio emphasized the importance of holding the Maduro regime accountable for its illegal actions and vowed to continue countering any schemes to evade U.S. sanctions in collaboration with the Dominican Republic and regional partners.
The seizure of the aircraft was a result of a 2019 executive order issued during President Donald Trump’s administration, aimed at prohibiting American citizens from engaging in transactions with individuals associated with PdVSA. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had identified 15 aircraft falling under this order in January 2020.
Despite being sanctioned, PdVSA had purchased the aircraft from the U.S. in July 2017 and exported it to Venezuela, where it was registered under tail number YV-3360. The plane had been serviced and maintained on multiple occasions using parts from the U.S., including a brake assembly, electronic flight displays, and flight management computers, which violated U.S. export control and sanctions laws.
Devin DeBacker, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, emphasized the intolerability of using American-made parts to service aircraft operated by sanctioned entities like PdVSA. The Justice Department, along with federal law enforcement partners, vowed to continue safeguarding national security by identifying and disrupting schemes aimed at procuring American goods in violation of sanctions and export control laws.
The aircraft had reportedly been used to transport Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, who is also sanctioned, to an OPEC meeting in the United Arab Emirates and to transport senior members of the Maduro regime. The DOJ described the use of the aircraft as a continuation of the regime’s misappropriation of PdVSA assets.
In a similar incident in September, a plane owned by Maduro was also seized in the Dominican Republic, with Homeland Security Investigations flying the Dassault Falcon 900EX back to the United States thereafter. U.S. Attorney Hayden O’Byrne emphasized the use of asset forfeiture as a powerful law enforcement tool to deter, disrupt, and combat criminal activity.
Maduro, who recently began his third six-year term as president amid widespread skepticism over the legitimacy of his election victory, has faced criticism both internationally and domestically. Critics question the fairness of the electoral process, with opposition candidate Edmundo González widely believed to have won by a landslide. Despite the controversy surrounding his presidency, Maduro remains in power, and the U.S. continues to take action against his regime’s attempts to evade sanctions and export control laws.
