A plane used by a Venezuelan natural gas company of the state to avoid American sanctions and export controls for the benefit of the Venezuelan regime President Nicolas Maduro Was seized on Thursday in the Dominican Republic, the authorities said.
The seizure of the Dassault Falcon 2000ex aircraft used by Petroleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA), the sanctioned Staatsolie and the company of the nature gas, came as State Secretary Marco Rubio visited the Caribbean nation for conversations with its president.
“The seizure of this Venezuelan aircraft, which is used for avoiding American sanctions and money laundering, is a powerful example of our determination to keep the illegal Maduro regime responsible for its illegal actions,” Rubio wrote to X.
“With the Dominican Republic and our regional partners, we will continue to combat every schedule to avoid American sanctions.”
State Secretary Marco Rubio, Right, listens to Edwin F. Lopez, the Attaché for DHS Homeland Security Investigations, Center, next to the Venezuelan government plane that Rubio has announced, was seized by the US (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The seizure was the result of an executive order of 2019 during President Donald Trump’s The first term of office in an attempt to prohibit American citizens to enter into transactions with everyone who worked for or on behalf of PDVSA. In January 2020, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department 15 Aircraft that fell under the order.
PDVSA bought the aircraft from the US in July 2017 and exported it to Venezuela, where it was registered under tail number YV-3360, the Ministry of Justice said.
Although sanctions on PDVSA were levied, the aircraft was still maintained and maintained several occasions with the help of parts from the US, the authorities said. The service included a brake bare, electronic flight displays and flight management computers, all in violation of American export control and sanctions.
A “seized” sign is placed in a Venezuelan government plane during a press conference where the American State Secretary Marco Rubio, on the right, announced his seizure at La Isabela International Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Thursday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“The use of American parts to maintain and maintain aircraft managed by sanctioned entities such as PDVSA is unbearable,” says Devin Debacker, head of the Justice Department National Security Division.
“The Ministry of Justice, together with its federal law enforcement partners, will continue to protect our national security by identifying, disturbing and dismantling arrangements aimed at purchasing American goods in violation of our sanctions and export controls.”
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This photo released by the presidential press office of Venezuela shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Right, who shakes Richard Grenell, the special envoy of President Donald Trump, in Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, 31 January 2025. (Venezuela’s presidential press office, via AP)
From its use, the aircraft was reportedly used to bring the Venezuelan oil minister of oil Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, who is also sanctioned, to an OPEC meeting in the United Arab Emirates and was used to senior members of the Maduro – to transport regime.
The aircraft was used in a continuation of the embezzlement of the PDVSA assist regime, the Doj said.
In September a Maduro plane was also seized in the Dominican Republic. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Dassault Falcon 900ex flew back to the United States shortly thereafter.
“Asset forfeiture is a powerful instrument for law enforcement that we will continue to use aggressively to scare, disrupt and otherwise combat criminal activities,” said American lawyer Hayden O’Byrne.
Maduro’s plane on a fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tarmac, after American authorities had grabbed the plane and had flown it from the Dominican Republic. That plane was seized in September 2024. (WOR)
Maduro started his third term of six years as president last month despite widespread skepticism on the legitimacy of his election victory.
International and domestic critics doubt the honesty of the election process. Maduro claimed the victory With more than 1 million votes. However, opposition candidate Edmundo González is generally supposed to have won by a landslide.
