U.S. officials said the aircraft was seized for allegedly violating U.S. export control and sanctions laws.
They added that the investigation found that people associated with Maduro allegedly used shell companies in the Caribbean to hide the illegal purchase of aircraft from a Florida company in late 2022 or early 2023.
The aircraft was illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela via the Caribbean in April 2023.
The argument by U.S. officials that the sale and export of the aircraft violated U.S. sanctions is unlikely to be widely accepted by Maduro, who has repeatedly accused the United States of meddling in his country’s internal affairs.
A White House National Security Council spokesperson called the move “a significant step to ensure Maduro continues to feel the consequences of his misrule in Venezuela.”
Mackenzie LaPointe, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, said Dominican Republic authorities provided “invaluable assistance” to the U.S. government in organizing the seizure.
“No matter how luxurious the private jet or how powerful the government official, we will work tirelessly with our partners here and around the world to identify and return aircraft illegally smuggled out of the United States,” said Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce, one of the federal agencies involved in the plane recovery operation.
According to data from the Flightradar24 website, the plane is expected to arrive in Kingston, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in April 2023 and then head to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
U.S. officials later said the plane “flies almost exclusively to military bases in Venezuela.” It is unclear how or when the plane arrived in the Dominican Republic.
However, U.S. officials said the jet was used by President Maduro “when he travels to other countries.”
The Venezuelan government announced in late July that it was temporarily suspending commercial flights to the Dominican Republic and Panama following President Maduro's controversial re-election.
This is not the first time that President Maduro or the Venezuelan government have been targeted by U.S. federal authorities over corruption allegations.
In 2020, the Justice Department indicted President Maduro and 14 Venezuelan officials on charges including narco-terrorism, corruption, and drug trafficking.
The State Department said it was offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Maduro's arrest or conviction.
