Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez explained the participation of the Dominican Republic in the seizure by the United States of a Dassault Falcon 900EX jet that had landed in May 2024 to the La Isabela International Airport, when asked about the issue during the weekly La Semanal press conference on 2 September 2024.
Alvarez said that on 22 May 2024, the Office of the Attorney General had received a request for international judicial cooperation for the immobilizing of a Falcon jet that had arrived to the La Isabela Airport to give time for the search of evidence that the plane was used in fraud, contraband of goods for illicit activities and asset laundering as part of a criminal investigation being carried out by the United States Justice Department. The airplane had landed there reportedly for maintenance works. Alvarez said that airports in the DR frequently offer their services to jets of this kind.
Alvarez said then on 2 September 2024, the Office of the Attorney General received a ruling authorizing the delivery of the plane to the US authorities.
Alvarez said the Dominican Republic was not part of the investigations carried out by the United States. “We only provided our part of the international cooperation to comply with judicial orders that verified the merits of the request,” said Alvarez. He said the DR has a bilateral agreement to this effect with the United States.
He confirmed the airplane was not registered in the name of the Venezuelan government.
The US judiciary took into custody the plane and would on 2 September take the jet to Florida. The jet is now is known to have been the one used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for his recent travels abroad. US officials say was illegally purchased through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States, citing violations of sanctions and export control laws. The plane, registered to San Marino, was the Venezuelan Air Force One and reportedly widely used by Maduro for foreign travel.
CNN was the first to report that the Dassault Falcon 900EX (registration T7-ESPRT corresponding to San Marino), was seized in the Dominican Republic at the La Isabela International Airport in northern Santo Domingo and transferred to the custody of federal officials in Florida, the US Justice Department confirmed on Monday, 2 September 2024. The airplane had been at the airport since March 2024 for what was reported as maintenance.
As reported, this is the same plane that had carried several Americans jailed for years in Venezuela to the Caribbean island of Canouan in December 2023 where they were swapped for a close Maduro ally, businessman Alex Saab, imprisoned in the US on money laundering charges.
“This morning [2 September 2024], the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for US$13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Department will continue to pursue those who violate our sanctions and export controls to prevent them from using American resources to undermine the national security of the United States.”
“Let this seizure send a clear message: aircraft illegally acquired from the United States for the benefit of sanctioned Venezuelan officials cannot just fly off into the sunset,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce. “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.”
“The United States’ seizure of the Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft illustrates our unrelenting commitment to enforcing U.S. export control laws and imposing U.S. sanctions for any violations,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida. “This successful seizure was the result of planning, coordination, and execution by the United States government, with invaluable assistance by the authorities in the Dominican Republic. Our office, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to work to forfeit this plane and all other assets that circumvent the law.”
The US has sanctioned 55 Venezuelan-registered planes belonging to state-owned oil giant PDVSA. It’s also offered a US$15 million bounty for the arrest of Maduro to face federal drug trafficking charges in New York.
The seizure comes about a month after the conflict over who rightfully won the presidential election in Venezuela. Ruling party-loyal electoral authorities have declared Maduro the victor without showing any detailed results to back up their claim. The opposition managed to obtain more than 80% of vote tally sheets as evidence Maduro lost by a wide margin to former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez.
The lack of transparency has drawn international condemnation against Maduro’s government. President Luis Abinader has been vocal calling for the respect of the people’s vote in Venezuela. In the Americas, Maduro has the support of the governments of Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Lucia among others.
Commercial aviation was shut down between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela after the Dominican Republic requested a comparison of the opposition voter tallies with the results of the past election in Venezuela.
Read more:
La Semanal – 2 September 2024
US Justice Department
CNN
Voice of America
BBC
The Guardian
PL English
Noticias SIN
El Dia
3 September 2024