US Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally seized a second plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government on behalf of the United States on Thursday.
Gatekeepers News reports that the relationship between Caracas and Washington has been marked by tensions for decades and the plane’s seizure follows a similar instance in September when a Venezuelan aircraft was seized while in the Dominican Republic.
Both aircraft were used by high-level Venezuelan officials throughout their travels, according to Edwin Lopez, the country attaché for US Homeland Security Investigations in Santo Domingo. The other aircraft was flown to Florida at the time of its seizure in September, under the Biden administration.
The plane seized on Thursday, a Dassault Falcon 200EX with the tail number YV-3360, was under US sanction, Lopez said. The aircraft has been held in Santo Domingo since April 2024. Rubio, in the Dominican Republic on his first trip as top US diplomat, watched as a warrant was taped on the door of the aircraft.
The aircraft was purchased in 2017 by the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA from the US, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice. Following the imposition of sanctions on PDVSA, the plane was “serviced and maintained on multiple occasions using parts from the United States,” which violates US export control and sanctions laws.
Lopez told Rubio that thanks to the leadership at the US Embassy, they were able to get the money to fix the second plane and proceed with the seizure Thursday. It will be taken to Miami in the coming months.
“Collectively, the two planes, they give us a treasure trove of intelligence,” including a list of all of Venezuela’s Air Force members “and their personally identifiable information, receipts, and flight manifests,” Lopez explained to Rubio.
“What’s going to be of value as well is the transponders,” which will allow them to get information that was blocked by the pilots in flight, he added.
