A second plane linked to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being investigated in the Dominican Republic, a source with knowledge of the situation told CNN, the latter reports.
This second plane, a Dassault Falcon 2000 registration number YV3360, is similar to the aircraft seized by authorities in the United States on Monday, and it appears on a US Treasury list of sanctioned goods belonging to Maduro.
Both planes were sent to Santo Domingo for maintenance in recent months, the source told CNN.
The plane seized by US authorities on Monday had been described by officials as Venezuela’s equivalent to Air Force One and was pictured in previous state visits by Maduro around the world.
It was seized after determining that its acquisition was in violation of US sanctions, among other criminal issues. The US flew the aircraft to Florida on Monday, according to two US officials.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that “the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies.”
The Venezuelan government described the first Falcon’s seizure as “piracy” in a statement on Monday, and accused Washington of escalating “aggression” toward Maduro’s government following a contested presidential election this July.
And Diario Libre notes that the second plane is an improved version of the Falcon 2000. It seats ten passengers and is estimated at $8-11 million. The only registered flight, as the publication found out, was made by this plane to Malta in September 2019.
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