The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the seizure of a Dassault Falcon 900EX plane owned by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which was seized in the Dominican Republic and then transferred to the United States’ Southern District of Florida.
The reason for this is that the aircraft violated U.S sanctions laws. In August 2019, President Trump issued Executive Order 13884 prohibiting Americans from engaging in business with Venezuelans, including those associated with the Maduro government.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the department would continue to pursue anyone who violates these sanctions and export controls in order to prevent them from using American resources against the U.S national security.
According to the US investigation, in 2022-2023, some allies of Maduro used a Caribbean-based shell company to illegally purchase the Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft, which at the time was worth approximately $13 million. Last time, the Dassaul Falcon, bearing the tail number T7-ESPRT, flew almost exclusively between a military base in Venezuela and a destination.
This is the second Venezuelan aircraft to be confiscated by the United States – in 2018, a Boeing 747 belonging to the Venezuelan airline Empresa de Transporte Aerocargo del sur (Emtrasur) was seized at the Argentinian airport Ezeiza. A local court decided this year to transfer the aircraft to the United States after which it was transported to Florida.
