The United States has seized a plane used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and flown it from the Dominican Republic to Florida after determining that its purchase violated US sanctions, the US Justice Department said on Monday, September 2.
The seizure of the aircraft came amid continuing pressure on Maduro at home and abroad over a contested July 28 election that he claimed to have won, while the opposition said its vote tallies showed its candidate to have soundly defeated him.
Maduro, his associates and the OPEC member-state's vital oil sector are under heavy US sanctions, and his handling of the election has raised the prospects that further measures could be imposed.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the US "for use by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies."
REUTERS VIDEO