The Falcon 900EX aircraft was taken into custody in the Dominican Republic and then moved to the US state of Florida, as stated by the US Department of Justice.
How and when the aircraft arrived in the Dominican Republic are unknown. According to tracking data, it departed from La Isabela airport, which is close to Santo Domingo’s capital, on Monday and arrived at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida shortly after.
The US has justified itself, according to Foreign Minister Yván Gil, “with the coercive measures that they unilaterally and illegally impose around the world.”
The Venezuelan government stated in a statement that it “reserves the right to take any legal action to repair this damage to the nation”.
According to US officials, US export control and sanctions rules are suspected of having been broken by the plane’s seizure.
They continued by saying that an inquiry revealed that individuals connected to Mr. Maduro had allegedly concealed their role in the plane’s unlawful purchase from a Florida-based corporation in late 2022 and early 2023 by using a shell company with operations in the Caribbean.
In April 2023, the airplane was then forcibly transported from the United States to Venezuela via the Caribbean.
Neither President Maduro nor US authorities’ claim that the plane’s sale and shipment violated US sanctions is going to have any traction.
