US Green Beret Arrested for Allegedly Betting on Venezuela Raid

A US Army Master Sergeant has been arrested and charged with unlawfully using government information for personal gain, after allegedly betting on a military operation in Venezuela. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a member of the US Army Special Forces, is accused of using his knowledge of the forthcoming raid to place $33,000 in bets on Polymarket, a prediction market platform, and winning around $400,000. The US Department of Justice claims that Van Dyke created a Polymarket account in December 2025 and made 13 bets between December 26, 2025, and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the potential US military operation in Venezuela. The bets included predictions on whether US forces would land in Venezuela, remove President Nicolas Maduro, or invade the country. Van Dyke allegedly attempted to conceal his identity by asking Polymarket to delete his account and changing his email address. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke, stating that his actions endangered US national security and put the lives of American service members at risk. The case has drawn attention from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of the use of confidential information for betting purposes, stating that the world has become 'a casino' and that he does not conceptually like the idea of betting on such events.