President Maduro of Venezuela’s jet has been taken by the United States.

The hardline president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, had an aircraft confiscated by the United States in the Dominican Republic and transported to Florida, the Justice Department announced on Monday.

According to the Justice Department, Maduro associates paid around $13 million for a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft that was then smuggled out of the United States via a shell corporation situated in the Caribbean.

“Since May 2023, the Dassault Falcon, bearing tail number T7-ESPRT, has flown almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela and has been used for the benefit of Maduro and his representatives, including to transport Maduro on visits to other countries,” the department said in a statement.

The department said it worked with authorities in the Dominican Republic to seize the plane for violating U.S. sanctions and export controls.

The U.S. has placed numerous sanctions on Venezuelan companies and individuals, including Maduro, for alleged corruption and human rights abuses among other things.

The plane confiscation came a little over a month after Venezuela’s contentious presidential election, in which both Maduro and the main opposition declared victory.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in a statement on August 1 that there was “overwhelming evidence” that “Edmundo González Urrutia, the opposition candidate, won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election.”

Maduro said that the Venezuelan electoral council had proclaimed him the victor and accused the United States of interfering in domestic issues of his nation. The electoral council, wholly devoted to Maduro, is cited by his detractors as having withheld total vote counts.

The de facto president of Venezuela will continue to be Maduro, according to EU foreign policy leader Josep Borrell, who stated last week that the EU does not recognise his right to run for reelection.