When asked about the airplane seizure, an official from the White House National Security Council released a statement that pointed to Mr. Maduro’s questionable claim of victory in the election.
“Last week, one of Venezuela’s own National Electoral Council rectors further validated that Maduro has provided no evidence that he won this election,” the White House statement said. “The United States, in coordination with our partners, is working to ensure that the will of the Venezuelan people, as expressed through the July 28 election, is respected.”
The Justice Department said that U.S. investigators had discovered that people tied to Mr. Maduro in late 2022 and early 2023 had used a Caribbean-based shell company to buy the airplane from a company in Florida. The plane was then illegally exported to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023, the department said, adding that since May 2023, the aircraft, which has the tail number T7-ESPRT, had been flown almost solely to and from a military base in Venezuela.
Among other things, it has been used to transport Mr. Maduro to and from other nations, the department said.
In its statement, the agency thanked the Dominican Republic for helping with the operation.
An official in the Dominican Republic said the two governments had cooperated to seize the airplane in May at the Dr. Joaquín Balaguer International Airport, also known as La Isabela International Airport. Officials in Venezuela had brought the plane to the Dominican Republic for maintenance work, the official said. The United States made a request for its seizure through judicial channels, and the Dominican authorities complied, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive operation.
The Justice Department said that the sale and export of the plane violated an executive order signed by President Donald J. Trump in 2019 that restricted trade between the United States and Venezuela, and that it violated export controls set by the Commerce Department.
Hogla Enecia Pérez contributed reporting from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
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