MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US seizes aircraft belonging to Maduro's fleet

Maduro's Dassault Falcon 900EX can seat up to 16 people

Venezuela's Chavista Government Tuesday argued that the seizing in the Dominican Republic by US authorities of an aircraft occasionally used by President Nicolás Maduro constituted a “criminal” act of “piracy.”

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces to the international community that once again, the authorities of the United States of America, in a repeat criminal practice that cannot be classified as anything other than piracy, have illegally confiscated an aircraft that has been used by the President of the Republic, justifying himself in the coercive measures that he unilaterally and illegally imposes around the world,“ Foreign Minister Yván Gil said in a statement.

”The United States has already demonstrated that it uses its economic and military power to intimidate and pressure States such as the Dominican Republic so that they serve as accomplices in its criminal acts. This is an example of the so-called 'rules-based order', which, disregarding international law, seeks to establish the law of the strongest, to create norms that conform to its interests,“ the Chavista regime went on.

The purchase of the Dassault Falcon 900EX trimotor flown Monday to the US State of Florida violated US sanctions against Caracas, it was determined in ordering its capture. ”The Department of Justice seized an aircraft that we allege was illegally purchased for US$ 13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies,“ US Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

The aircraft was purchased from a Florida company and illegally exported in April 2023 to Caracas for Maduro's international travel ”almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela,“ according to the US Justice Department.

”Our office, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to work to seize this aircraft and all other assets in violation of US law,“ noted U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe.

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader told reporters that the aircraft ”was not registered in the name of the Venezuelan government“, but in that of a private individual, while Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez explained that the aircraft was in Dominican territory for maintenance purposes and that on May 22 the Public Prosecutor's Office obtained a judicial order issued by a National Court to ground it at the request of the US to search it for ”evidence and objects related to fraud activities, smuggling of goods for illicit activities and money laundering.“

”Seizing the plane of a foreign head of state is unheard of in criminal matters,“ an unnamed US Government source was quoted by CNN as saying. ”We are sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is above the reach of US sanctions.”

The Dassault Falcon 900EX can seat up to 16 people to fly at a cruising speed is 892 km/h with an 8,334-kilometer autonomy.