US Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially seized a second plane belonging to the Venezuelan government on Thursday, as part of an ongoing effort by the United States to target Venezuelan assets. The plane, a Dassault Falcon 200EX with tail number YV-3360, had been under US sanctions and had been held in Santo Domingo since April 2024. This seizure follows a similar incident in September, when a Venezuelan aircraft was seized in the Dominican Republic. Both planes were used by high-ranking Venezuelan officials during their travels.
According to Edwin Lopez, the US Homeland Security Investigations attaché in Santo Domingo, the aircraft had been serviced with US parts multiple times, violating US export control and sanctions laws. The plane was purchased in 2017 by Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA from the United States. The aircraft’s maintenance and the use of US parts after sanctions were imposed led to its seizure.
Rubio, who was on his first trip as the US Secretary of State to the Dominican Republic, oversaw the affixing of a warrant to the aircraft. The plane will eventually be transported to Miami in the coming months. Lopez noted that the two seized planes offer a significant amount of intelligence, including flight manifests, receipts, and personal information of Venezuela’s Air Force members. Additionally, the planes’ transponders will provide valuable information that was previously blocked by pilots during flights.
The Venezuelan government has yet to respond to the matter.
A long-running investigation
In September 2024, after the seizure of a plane linked to the Maduro regime, a source revealed that the second plane—formally seized on Thursday—was being investigated in the Dominican Republic. Authorities have been aware of the two planes for at least five years. A 2020 press release from the US Treasury indicated that the plane seized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio was used in 2019 to transport high-ranking members of the former Maduro government, including for a trip to an OPEC meeting in the UAE.
In the September incident, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that the seized plane had been “illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States” for use by Nicolás Maduro and his associates. The US had requested the plane be immobilized to search for evidence tied to fraud, smuggling, and money laundering, as confirmed by the Dominican Republic’s Foreign Minister, Roberto Alvarez.
After the plane’s seizure, it was described as the Venezuelan equivalent of Air Force One. The Venezuelan government called the action “piracy” and accused the US of increasing its aggression against Maduro’s regime.
For years, US officials have worked to disrupt the flow of billions of dollars to the Venezuelan government. Homeland Security Investigations, the second-largest investigative agency in the federal government, has seized numerous luxury vehicles and other assets being sent to Venezuela.
The US has been targeting corruption within Venezuela, but pressure intensified following Maduro’s disputed reelection for a third term in July. In response to the election and ongoing issues, the US reimposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas sector last year.
In March 2020, the US Department of Justice charged Maduro and 14 other current and former Venezuelan officials with charges including narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, and corruption. Maduro’s government has consistently denied any involvement in drug trafficking and dismissed criticism of the 2024 election results.