DOJ REQUESTS SEIZURE OF BOEING 747 CARGO PLANE CURRENTLY GROUNDED IN ARGENTINA
September 28, 2022
On August 2, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued notice that it has transmitted a request to Argentinian authorities to seize a Boeing 747-300M cargo airplane following the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s decision to unseal a seizure warrant for the aircraft. The warrant was originally issued on July 19, 2022 after a finding that the U.S.-made aircraft was subject to forfeiture due to violations of U.S. export control laws including the unauthorized transfer of the aircraft from Mahan Air, an Iranian airline that has been linked with a previously sanctioned and designated terrorist organization known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp-Qods Force (“IRGC-QF”), to Empresa de Transporte Aéreocargo del Sur, S.A. (also known as EMTRASUR), a Venezuelan cargo airline. This was preceded by a June 2022 seizure warrant prompted following Argentinian authorities’ reports of the detainment of the flight crew of the Boeing aircraft, including five Iranians and the captain of the aircraft, who was later identified as an ex-commander for the IRGC-QF and a shareholder and member of the board of Iranian airline Qeshm Fars Air. Argentinian authorities also conducted a search of the aircraft and found a Mahan Air flight log documenting various flights conducted after the unauthorized transfer of the aircraft to EMTRASUR.
As further background, in 2008, a Temporary Denial Order was issued against Mahan Air prohibiting it from engaging in any transaction involving any commodity exported from the U.S. that is subject to U.S. export regulations, among other things. Then, in 2011 Mahan Air was designated by OFAC for providing material support to the IRGC-QF. In October 2021, Mahan Air violated the Temporary Denial Order and U.S. export control laws by transferring control and custody of the Boeing aircraft to EMTRASUR without obtaining authorization from the U.S. government. EMTRASUR then allegedly committed additional violations of U.S. export control laws between February and May 2022 when it reexported the Boeing aircraft between Caracas, Venezuela; Tehran, Iran; and Moscow, Russia, again without obtaining authorization from the U.S. government.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).
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