The U.S. seized the plane of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the Dominican Republic on Monday. It is Venezuela's equivalence of the U.S.'s Air Force One.
The U.S. determined that the plane was violating U.S. sanctions and the aircraft was flown to Florida, according to an exclusive report from CNN.
“This sends a message all the way up to the top,” a U.S. official told the outlet. “Seizing the foreign head of state’s plane is unheard-of for criminal matters. We’re sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is above the reach of US sanctions.”
The plane is a Dassault Falcon 900EX that cost roughly $13 million, according to records.
There were various government agencies that were involved in seizing the plane. Venezuela was notified about the plane being taken.
Following Maduro's controversial re-election in July, he suspended commercial flights that went to and from the Dominican Republic.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged Maduro, along with 14 current and former Venezuelan officials, with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and corruption back in March of 2020.
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