The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement the confiscation by U.S. authorities of a plane used by President Nicolas Maduro, stating that "the United States has once again engaged in a repeated criminal act that can only be described as an act of piracy."

The Venezuelan statement came shortly after the United States announced that it had seized the plane in the Dominican Republic and transported it to Florida, noting that the purchase of the plane was made in a manner that violates U.S. sanctions.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in a press release, "The Department of Justice has seized a plane that was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and was smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolas Maduro and his associates."

The website "Flight Radar 24" that tracks aircraft showed that the plane took off from the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, heading to Fort Lauderdale in Florida on Monday morning.