A plane used by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company to evade US sanctions has been seized in the Dominican Republic. The Dassault Falcon 2000EX, operated by Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A (PdVSA), was taken into custody as Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Caribbean nation.
The aircraft was purchased from the US in 2017 and maintained despite sanctions being imposed on PdVSA. It has been used to transport senior regime officials, including the sanctioned Oil Minister Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez. The seizure is a result of a 2019 executive order aimed at prohibiting American citizens from engaging with PdVSA.
According to the Justice Department, the plane was serviced using US-made parts in violation of export control laws. “The use of American-made parts to service and maintain aircraft operated by sanctioned entities like PdVSA is intolerable,” said Devin DeBacker, head of the National Security Division.
This latest development comes as President Maduro faces widespread skepticism over his election victory. Opposition candidate Edmundo González is widely believed to have won by a landslide, but Maduro claims victory by more than 1 million votes. The US will continue to enforce its sanctions and counter any schemes to evade them, Secretary Rubio stated.
Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-seizes-second-plane-owned-maduro-regime-dominican-republic-citing-evasion-sanctions