The United States has seized a Falcon 900EX plane belonging to President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.
The US claimed the plane was bought illegally for $13 million (£9.8 million) and smuggled out of the country.
According to the US Justice Department, the aircraft was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the US State of Florida, BBC reports.
The report is unclear on how and when the plane ended up in the Dominican Republic.
It said that tracking data showed the plane leaving La Isabela airport near the capital, Santo Domingo, on Monday, arriving at Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida soon after.
There was no immediate comment from Mr Maduro or the Venezuelan government over the matter.
Officials said the plane was seized for suspected violations of US export control and sanctions laws.
They added that an investigation found that people affiliated with Mr Maduro had allegedly used a Caribbean-based shell company to hide their involvement in the plane’s illegal purchase from a company based in Florida in late 2022 and early 2023.
The aircraft was then illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023.
The argument by US officials that the plane’s sale and export was in violation of US sanctions is unlikely to carry much weight with President Maduro, who has repeatedly accused the US of meddling in his country’s internal affairs.
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said the action represented “an important step to ensure that Maduro continues to feel the consequences from his misgovernance of Venezuela”.
According to US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, the Dominican Republic authorities had given the US government “invaluable assistance” in organising the seizure.
“It doesn’t matter how fancy the private jet or how powerful the officials, we will work relentlessly with our partners here and across the globe to identify and return any aircraft illegally smuggled outside of the United States”, said Matthew S Axelrod from the department of commerce, one of the federal agencies involved in the operation to recover the plane.
Data from Flightradar24’s website disclosed that the plane appeared to be flown to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, after arriving in Kingston in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in April 2023.
It subsequently flew “almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela”. It is unclear how and when the plane arrived in the Dominican Republic.
US officials said the jet had been used by Mr Maduro “on visits to other countries”.
The Venezuelan government had in late July announced that it was temporarily suspending commercial flights to both the Dominican Republic and Panama following the controversial re-election of Mr Maduro.
This is not the first time Maduro or Venezuela’s government has been targeted by US federal authorities over alleged corruption.
The US Justice Department had in 2020 charged Maduro and 14 other Venezuelan officials with narco-terrorism, corruption and drug trafficking, among other charges.
The US department has offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction.
