Luxury jet used by Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro seized by US officials
Venezuela’s equivalent to Air Force One has been seized by US officials, who claim the luxury presidential jet was bought illegally and smuggled out of the country to get around US export control laws.
The white Dassault Falcon 900EX, used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores during state visits, was seized in the Dominican Republic and flown to Florida, the US Justice Department said on Monday.
Registered in San Marino, the aircraft was used extensively for foreign trips by Mr Maduro and his senior officials, including trips to Guyana and Cuba earlier this year.
It landed at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale shortly before noon after being seized, according to flight tracking websites.
Washington says associates of the Venezuelan leader helped buy the plane. Pic: CBS via Enex
Washington has said the plane, valued at $13m (£10m), was bought from sellers in Florida in late 2022 and early the following year.
Officials have said the deal was done through a Caribbean-based shell company used to hide the involvement of associates of the Venezuelan leader.
According to officials, it was then exported to Caracas through the Caribbean in April last year, in an arrangement designed to get around an executive order barring Americans from making deals with anyone involved in Mr Maduro’s government.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that it had been smuggled out of the US for use by “Maduro and his cronies.”
Matthew Axelrod, from the US Commerce Department, said in a statement: “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.”
US officials board the plane. Pic: CBS via Enex
It’s less than a month since Mr Maduro was returned to office in a widely disputed presidential poll in which electoral authorities loyal to him declared the incumbent the winner without providing any detailed results.
The lack of transparency has been widely condemned by other countries.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro celebrates after the presidential election. Pic: Reuters
Opponents of the Maduro regime obtained more than 80% of vote tally sheets, which suggested he had actually lost by a wide margin to former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez.
The plane was previously registered in the US and owned by Florida-based Six G Aviation, a broker that buys and sells used aircraft, according to several flight tracking websites.
It was exported to St Vincent and the Grenadines and de-registered in the US in January 2023, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records.
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In March, it flew to the Dominican Republic, along with a Venezuelan-registered plane, for what was believed to be maintenance and had been there since.
Washington has already seized a Boeing 747-300 cargo plane transferred from Iran to a subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned airlines as well as several private jets belonging to Venezuelan officials sanctioned or charged in the US.
Hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members have been deported by the White House to a supermax prison in El Salvador, even as a US judge blocked the removals.
US District Judge James E Boasberg issued an order on Saturday temporarily blocking the Trump administration deportations, but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air – one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras.
Mr Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but the directive was not included in his written order.
Salvadoran police officers escorting alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Sunday: “The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order.
“The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA (Tren de Aragua gang) aliens had already been removed from US territory.”
In a court filing Sunday, the Department of Justice, which has appealed Mr Boasberg’s decision, said it would not use the Trump proclamation he blocked for further deportations if his decision is not overturned.
President Donald Trump sidestepped a question over whether his administration violated a court order while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening.
But he added: “I can tell you this. These were bad people.”
Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Police officers cut the hair of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government. Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Pic: El Salvador’s Presidency Press Office/Reuters
Asked about invoking presidential powers used in times of war, Mr Trump said: “This is a time of war.”
He also described the influx of criminal migrants as “an invasion”.
“Oopsie…Too late,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who agreed to house about 300 immigrants for a year at a cost of $6m in his country’s prisons, posted on X above an article about Mr Boasberg’s ruling.
The immigrants were deported after Mr Trump’s declaration of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which has been used only three times in US history – during the War of 1812 and the First and Second World Wars.
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Tren de Aragua originated in an infamously lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone during the past decade.
The Trump administration has not identified the immigrants deported, provided any evidence they are in fact members of Tren de Aragua or that they committed any crimes in the US.
It also sent two top members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang to El Salvador who had been arrested in the US.
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Video released by El Salvador’s government showed the shackled men – who had their heads shaved – being transported to prison in a large convoy of buses guarded by police and military vehicles and at least one helicopter.
The immigrants were taken to the notorious CECOT facility.
The bar on deportations stands for up to 14 days and the immigrants will remain in federal custody during that time.
Mr Boasberg has scheduled a hearing Friday to hear additional arguments in the case.
A delivery driver who needed skin grafts after being burned when a hot tea from Starbucks spilled into his lap has been awarded $50m (£38.6m) in damages.
Michael Garcia suffered third-degree burns to his genitals, groin and inner thighs and has permanent and life-changing disfigurement after collecting the drink at a California drive-through, according to his legal team.
His negligence lawsuit blamed the injuries on Starbucks, claiming an employee did not wedge the scalding-hot tea firmly enough into a takeaway tray.
Video footage shows Mr Garcia being handed a tray of three drinks at the serving window in Los Angeles and appearing to struggle as he drives his vehicle away.
Incident happened at a Starbucks drive-through in California. Pic: Trial Lawyers for Justice
A Los Angeles County jury found in favour of Mr Garcia after he launched legal action over the incident on 8 February 2020.
He was working as a Postmates delivery driver at the time, according to Sky’s US partner network NBC News.
His lawyer Nick Rowley said his client’s “life has been forever changed”.
“This jury verdict is a critical step in holding Starbucks accountable for flagrant disregard for customer safety and failure to accept responsibility,” he added.
Starbucks said it sympathised with Mr Garcia, but plans to lodge an appeal.
In a statement, the global coffeehouse chain said: “We disagree with the jury’s decision that we were at fault for this incident and believe the damages awarded to be excessive.”
The firm added it was “committed to the highest safety standards” in handling hot drinks.
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US restaurants have faced lawsuits before over customer burns.
In one famous 1990s case, a New Mexico jury awarded a woman nearly $3m (£2.3m) in damages for burns she suffered while trying to pry the lid off a cup of coffee at a McDonald’s drive-through.
A judge later reduced the award and the case was settled for an undisclosed sum under $600,000 (£463,600).
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