Santo Domingo.-One day before President Luis Abinader traveled to Washington to participate in several activities, the United States Government confiscated, with the collaboration of the Dominican authorities, a plane used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that, according to the US authorities, was illegally purchased through a shell company.
Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez explained that in May the Government, through the Public Prosecutor’s Office, received a request from the US authorities for legal assistance to immobilize the white Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft, registration J7 ESPERT, in order to carry out searches for evidence and objects linked to fraud, smuggling of goods for illicit activities and money laundering.
He added that the request is part of a criminal investigation being conducted by the US Department of Justice.
Álvarez said that on May 22, the Public Prosecutor’s Office obtained a court order authorizing the immobilization of the aircraft that, according to the North American authorities, belongs to Nicolás Maduro.
Yesterday, a court authorized, through a court order, the delivery of the plane to the United States. However, the foreign minister clarified that the Dominican government did not participate in the investigative process carried out by the United States.
Origin
The plane, which landed yesterday at Fort Lauderdale Airport, arrived on Wednesday, May 22 at Joaquín Balaguer Airport (El Higüero) from Venezuela, and minutes later information was received from the Attorney General’s Office ordering its detention, although the reasons were not disclosed.
The aircraft, valued at 13 million dollars, arrived in Dominican territory to receive maintenance.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Justice said the plane was exported from the United States to Venezuela, via the Caribbean, in April 2023 in a transaction intended to circumvent an executive order prohibiting Americans from conducting commercial transactions with the Maduro regime.
He added that the jet, registered in San Marino, was widely used by Maduro to travel abroad, to Guyana and Cuba, including earlier this year.
“This successful seizure was the result of planning, coordination and execution by the United States Government, with invaluable assistance from the authorities of the Dominican Republic.
“Our office, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to work to seize this aircraft and all other assets that are evading the law,” added Commerce Department Under Secretary for Export Control Matthew S. Axelrod.
State media footage from a December visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines shows Maduro, first lady Cilia Flores and senior officials stepping off the plane ahead of a day of discussions over a territorial dispute between Venezuela and neighboring Guyana.
This is the second plane that the United States government has seized from the Nicolás Maduro regime, since in February of this year it managed to seize the cargo plane that the Argentine government immobilized in June 2022 in Buenos Aires at the request of Washington, which claims that the aircraft was used for covert operations by Venezuelan and Iranian agents throughout Latin America.
Investigation
According to the investigation, in late 2022 and early 2023, individuals affiliated with Maduro allegedly used a shell company based in the Caribbean to conceal their involvement in the illegal purchase of the aircraft from a company based in the Southern District of Florida.
The aircraft was then illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela via the Caribbean in April 2023 and has since 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.”
In August 2019, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order prohibiting US citizens 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.
Replacement
Following the immobilization of the Dassault Falcon 900EX, the Maduro regime acquired another Global 600 aircraft last July, registration T7-102x, valued at 25 million dollars.
According to the Venezuelan Aviation portal, the aircraft arrived in the South American country on July 3 of this year from Geneva, via Antigua.
He added that the aircraft was owned by millionaire Lawrence Stoll, director of the Aston Martin Group and owner of the Aston Martin Team Formula 1 team.
DR-Venezuela
—1— Flights
Venezuela’s National Institute of Civil Aeronautics reported that the suspension of flights will continue until September 30.
—2— Suspension
Venezuela has suspended flights to the Dominican Republic and Panama, citing interference from those countries following the results of the presidential elections on July 28.
Venezuela reserves legal action
Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela.
Reaction. The Venezuelan government announced yesterday that it will reserve the right to take legal action to “repair” the damage caused by the confiscation of President Nicolás Maduro’s official plane, which was seized in the Dominican Republic by order of the United States authorities, within the framework of the sanctions applied to Caracas.
Venezuela “reserves the right to take any legal action to repair this damage to the nation, as well as all other damages caused by the criminal policy of the United States,” Maduro said in a statement, in which he called the confiscation “piracy.”
According to Washington, the aircraft is owned by Maduro and people affiliated with him and was operated on his behalf.
