SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — On Thursday, the administration of former President Trump executed the seizure of a second aircraft linked to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, currently located in the Dominican Republic.
During his visit to Santo Domingo, which marked the conclusion of his five-nation tour in Latin America, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw American officials attaching the seizure warrant to the aircraft.
The process of seizing the plane required Rubio to authorize a waiver related to a freeze imposed by President Trump on foreign aid, facilitating the payment of over $230,000 in storage and maintenance costs, as per a State Department document obtained. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice was involved in granting approval due to allegations that the plane was utilized by a Venezuelan state-owned oil and gas entity currently under sanctions. Investigations revealed that this company purchased the plane in the United States in 2017 before sending it to Venezuela and servicing it multiple times with American-made parts.
The seized aircraft is a Dassault Falcon 200, which had been employed by Maduro and prominent officials, including his vice president and defense minister, for global travel, including trips to Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Cuba, actions that the U.S. government views as violations of its sanctions.
This recent seizure follows a visit made by Richard Grenell, Trump’s special envoy, to Caracas the previous week, where he met with Maduro to discuss the repatriation of Venezuelans who had unlawfully entered the United States. Grenell returned with six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela.
In September 2024, another of Maduro’s planes was confiscated in the Dominican Republic. At that time, the Justice Department indicated that associates of Maduro had utilized a shell company based in the Caribbean to conceal their involvement in the procurement of the aircraft—a Dassault Falcon 900EX worth $13 million—from a Florida company in late 2022 and early 2023.
Regarding his earlier engagement in the trip, Rubio noted on Thursday that he was “not confused” about the status of a potential agreement regarding the elimination of fees for U.S. naval vessels transiting the Panama Canal, emphasizing that Panama would follow its legal procedures to address the issue.
“They’re a democratically elected government. They have rules. They have laws. They’re going to follow their process,” he stated.
This discussion follows a declaration from the U.S. State Department on X platform late Wednesday, asserting that Panamanian authorities had consented to waive the transit fees.
However, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino refuted this claim, stating that he had informed U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth the day prior that he was unable to establish fees for transit or exempt any vessels, expressing surprise at the State Department’s implication otherwise.
The fees have been a source of contention for President Trump, who has expressed dissatisfaction with the current arrangements surrounding the canal and has hinted at the possibility of retaking it from Panama unless the country imposes stringent limitations on Chinese influence in the area.
Considering the U.S. treaty obligations to protect the canal, Rubio remarked, “I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.”
