Aircraft used by the State Venecuelan Central Gas Company to state -owned to avoid US laws on sanctions and exports in favor of the Venezuelan regime President Nicolas Maduro It was seized on Thursday in the Dominican Republic, authorities said.
The western Dassault Falcon 2000ex aircraft used by Petroleos de Venezuela, S (VAT), the sanctioned Venecuela’s state company of oil and natural gas, came while State Secretary Marco Rubio visited the Caribbean nation for interviews with its president.
“The session of this Venezuela aircraft, used to avoid American sanctions and money laundering, is a powerful example of our determination that an illegitimate Maduro regime responsible for its illegal procedures,” Rubio wrote on X.
“With the Dominican Republic and our regional partners, we will continue to oppose any scheme to avoid US sanctions.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, listens to Edwin F. Lopez, The Actaité for DHS Homeland Security Investigations, Center, next to the Venecuela Government aircraft, for which he ruined that he had seized the United States (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Seizure derived from the 2019 Executive Command President Donald Trump The first term in an effort to forbid American citizens to deal with transactions with anyone who worked for or on behalf of VAT. In January 2020. The Office for Control of Foreign Property (OFAC) Ministry of Finance identified 15 aircraft that belonged to the command.
The VAT bought the plane from the US in July 2017 and made it in Venezuela, where it was registered under a tail number YV-3360, the Ministry of Justice said.
Despite the sanctions charged on VAT, the plane is still serviced and maintained repeatedly using parts from the US, authorities said. The service included a brake assembly, electronic flight and flight manufacturers, and everything violates US control and sanctions.
The “seizure” sign was placed on the Venecuela G (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“The use of US-service and maintenance of aircraft operated by sanctioned entities like VAT is unbearable,” said Devin Debacker, Boss The Head of the Ministry of Justice National Security Department.
“The Ministry of Justice, together with its federal partners for law enforcement, will continue to protect our national security by identifying, interfering with and removing the schemes aimed at procuring US goods in violating our sanctions and laws on export control.”
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This photo posted by Venezuela’s President’s President Nicolas Maduro, right, hand with Richard Grenell, a special envoy of President Donald Trump, at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, January 31, 2025. (Venezuela Presidential Office, by AP)
Among his uses, the plane was allegedly used to run Venecuela Minister Nafta Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, who was also sanctioned, to the OPEC’s United Arab Emirates and was used for the transport of higher members of the Maduro regime.
The aircraft was used in the continuation of the pronunciation of the Proper Proper Property of VAT assets, the impression said.
A plane owned by Madura was seized in September Dominican Republic. Investigations on Homeland Security (HSI) soon flew by Dassault Falcon 900Ex to the United States.
“For the seizure of property, it is a powerful tool for law enforcement, which we will continue to use aggressively to distract, disrupt and otherwise fight criminal activities,” said US lawyer Hayden O’byrne.
Madur’s plane on Fort Lauderdale, Florida, asphalt, after US authorities seized the aircraft and flew from the Dominican Republic. That plane was seized in September 2024. (Wfo)
Maduro began his third six -year term as a president last month despite his widespread skepticism over the legitimacy of his choice.
International and domestic critics question the righteousness of the electoral process. Maduro claimed a victory with more than one million votes. However, it is believed that the candidate for opposition Edmundo González won the landslide.
