- The jet was illegally exported from the US to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023.
- Since May 2023, the plane has been flying almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela.
- The violence during the protests left 27 people dead and at least 192 wounded.
“The Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Aircraft tracking site Flightradar24 indicated that the jet flew from Santo Domingo to Fort Lauderdale on Monday morning.
The U.S. claims that in late 2022 and early 2023, individuals connected to Maduro allegedly used a Caribbean-based shell company to hide their involvement in the illegal purchase of the jet.
In April 2023, the aircraft was illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean. Since May 2023, the plane has been flying almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela.
Anthony Salisbury, the special agent in charge at the Homeland Security Investigations Miami office, stated, "Nicolas Maduro predominantly utilized this plane for numerous state visits."
Protests erupted across the South American country after Maduro was declared the winner of a disputed July 28 election, resulting in dozens of deaths and over 2,400 arrests.
The opposition claims to have won by a landslide and asserts that it possesses the voting records to prove it.
The leftist Maduro government has dismissed accusations of authoritarianism and resisted international pressure to release vote tally numbers to substantiate its victory claim.
“Maduro and his representatives’ have tampered with the results of the July 28 presidential election, falsely claimed victory, and carried out widespread repression to maintain power by force,” a US National Security Council spokesperson said.
The seizure of the plane “is an important step to ensure that Maduro continues to feel the consequences from his misgovernance of Venezuela,” they added.
The United States, the European Union, and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro's victory without seeing detailed voting results.
The violence during the protests left 27 people dead and at least 192 wounded.
Since 2005, Washington has imposed sanctions on Venezuela that target individuals and entities “that have engaged in criminal, antidemocratic, or corrupt actions,” according to a Congressional briefing document.
“In response to increasing human rights abuses and corruption by the government of Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, the Trump Administration expanded US sanctions to include financial sanctions, sectoral sanctions, and sanctions on the government.”
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