The Trump administration is moving to seize a second aircraft linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government, which is currently located in the Dominican Republic.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to announce the seizure on Thursday during his visit to Santo Domingo, the final stop of his five-nation tour of Central America, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter and a State Department document.
Executing the seizure required Rubio’s approval of a foreign aid freeze waiver to cover more than $230,000 in storage and maintenance fees, along with authorization from the Department of Justice. The waiver request, submitted early last week, has been approved, and Rubio is set to make the announcement at what the State Department has publicly described as a “law enforcement engagement.”
The aircraft in question, a Dassault Falcon 200, has been used by Maduro and top officials, including his vice president and defense minister, for international travel to destinations such as Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Cuba—movements the administration argues violate U.S. sanctions, according to the document.
This latest seizure follows last week’s visit to Caracas by President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, who met with Maduro to negotiate the repatriation of Venezuelan nationals who had entered the U.S. illegally. Grenell returned with six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela.
In September 2024, the U.S. seized another Venezuelan government plane from the Dominican Republic. At the time, the Justice Department revealed that Maduro’s associates had used a Caribbean-based shell company in late 2022 and early 2023 to conceal their involvement in the $13 million purchase of a Dassault Falcon 900EX from a Florida-based company.
