The seizure comes just a month after Venezuela’s election, which has been criticized by the U.S. for a lack of transparency.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has seized a luxury jet used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that officials say was illegally purchased through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States in violation of sanctions and export control laws.
The Dassault Falcon 900EX was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the custody of federal officials in Florida, the Justice Department said Monday. The plane landed at Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport shortly before noon Monday, according to flight tracking websites.
U.S. officials say associates of the Venezuelan leader in late 2022 and early 2023 used a Caribbean-based shell company to hide their involvement in the purchase of the plane, valued at the time at $13 million, from a company in Florida. The plane was then exported from the U.S. to …