US formally seizes second plane belonging to Venezuelan President Maduro
The relationship between Caracas and Washington has been marked by tensions for decades and the plane's seizure follows a similar instance in September when a Venezuelan aircraft was seized while in the Dominican Republic.
Both aircraft were used by high-level Venezuelan officials throughout their travels, according to Edwin Lopez, the country attaché for US Homeland Security Investigations in Santo Domingo. The other aircraft was flown to Florida at the time of its seizure in September, under the Biden administration.
The plane seized on Thursday, a Dassault Falcon 200EX with the tail number YV-3360, was under US sanction, Lopez said. The aircraft has been held in Santo Domingo since April 2024. Rubio, in the Dominican Republic on his first trip as top US diplomat, watched as a warrant was taped on the door of the aircraft.
The aircraft was purchased in 2017 by the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from the US, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice. Following the imposition of sanctions on PDVSA, the plane was 'serviced and maintained on multiple occasions using parts from the United States,' which violates US export control and sanctions laws.
Lopez told Rubio that thanks to the leadership at the US Embassy, they were able to get the money to fix the second plane and proceed with the seizure Thursday. It will be taken to Miami in the coming months.
'Collectively, the two planes, they give us a treasure trove of intelligence,' including a list of all of Venezuela's Air Force members 'and their personally identifiable information, receipts, and flight manifests,' Lopez explained to Rubio.
'What's going to be of value as well is the transponders,' which will allow them to get information that was blocked by the pilots in flight, he added.
CNN has reached out to the Venezuelan government for comment.
In September 2024, after the other plane linked to the Maduro regime was seized and flown to Florida, a source with knowledge of the situation told CNN the second plane – the one formally seized Thursday – was being investigated in the Dominican Republic.
Authorities have known of the two planes for at least five years. A 2020 news release from the US Treasury says the plane seized by Rubio 'was used throughout 2019 to transport senior members of the former Maduro regime,' including a trip to an OPEC meeting in the United Arab Emirates.
In September, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said the aircraft seized at that time was 'illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies.' The US had requested it be immobilized so they could search it for 'evidence and objects linked to fraud activities, smuggling of goods for illicit activities and money laundering,' according to the foreign minister of the Dominican Republic Roberto Alvarez.
After that plane's seizure, officials described it as the Venezuelan equivalent of the American president's Air Force One. The Venezuelan government described the plane's seizure in September as 'piracy' and accused Washington of escalating 'aggression' toward Maduro's government.
For years, US officials have sought to disrupt the flow of billions of dollars to the regime in Venezuela. Homeland Security Investigations — the second largest investigative agency in the federal government — has seized dozens of luxury vehicles, among other assets, heading to Venezuela.
Federal agencies have gone after corruption in Venezuela but pressure from the US intensified following Maduro's controversial reelection for a third presidential term in July.
Last year, the US reimposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas sector in response to the Maduro government's failure to allow 'an inclusive and competitive election' to take place.
In March 2020, the US Department of Justice charged Maduro, together with 14 current and former Venezuelan officials, with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and corruption. Maduro's government have long denied any involvement in drug trafficking and has dismissed criticism of last year's election results.
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