U.S. Seizes Venezuelan ‘Air Force One’
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s Dassault 900 EX was flown by officials from the Dominican Republic to Florida.
The Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft was illegally exported from the U.S. and used for the benefit of Maduro and his representatives, according to the Justice Department. [Courtesy: U.S. Department of Justice]
The U.S. government has seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's Dassault 900 EX for alleged sanctions violations.
The big business jet, which Maduro reportedly used as his version of "Air Force One," was flown by American officials from the Dominican Republic to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“This morning, the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a DOJ news release on Monday.
DOJ said the plane was bought from an unnamed South Florida company. It is registered as T7-ESPRT, which is under the registry of the tiny landlocked country of San Marino, which is an independent state surrounded entirely by Italy in the northeastern area of the country. Registration data was not available from the San Marino authority.
San Marino allows anyone from a "non-blacklisted country" to register an aircraft as long as they have a resident agent in the tiny country.
Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.
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