The United States on Thursday seized a plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime that is currently in the Dominican Republic, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced.
The aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 2000EX, was used by Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), the sanctioned Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company.
It was seized based on violations of U.S. export control and sanctions laws, according to the DOJ.
The department said an investigation showed that the company bought the plane in the United States in 2017 and exported it to Venezuela, where it was serviced and maintained multiple times using U.S. parts despite the imposition of sanctions on PdVSA….