Feds seize Venezuelan jet in sanctions enforcement action

Federal agents seized a jet used by a Venezuelan-owned oil and gas company for breaking U.S. sanctions laws, according to a Thursday release from the Department of Justice. The Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft was used by the government-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, the department said. It was also serviced and maintained with American-made parts, according to the release.

Investigators found that the oil and gas company bought the aircraft from the United States in July 2017, about a month before President Donald Trump enforced sanctions against Venezuela during his first term. Petroleos de Venezuela later violated export and sanctions laws by continuing to service the jet with U.S.-made brakes, electronic flight displays, and flight management computers after the sanctions were imposed, according to the DOJ. Seizing aircraft from the regime of President Nicolás Maduro reinforces that American sanctions have teeth, according to Kevin J. Kurland, acting assistant secretary for export enforcement for the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security. Kurland vowed to continue aggressively investigating regulation violations.

What are the sanctions for? U.S. leaders maintain a rocky relationship with the South American country, given its authoritarian government. United States leaders historically levied sanctions on Venezuela over issues relating to drug trafficking, terrorism, antidemocratic actions, corruption, and human rights violations. Trump cited rights abuses and antidemocratic actions by the government when enacting his 2017 trade sanctions. Both Trump and his successor, President Joe Biden, imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan government while in office.

American officials have also struggled with the recent influx of Venezuelan migrants illegally entering the country, including many affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang. State leaders from New York to Texas worked to combat the gang’s criminal activities. Although the Biden administration previously sanctioned Tren de Aragua, an executive order from Trump last month recommended that it be designated as a foreign terror group.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on U.S. officials seizing another Venezuelan government jet for sanctions violations last September.