US Authorities Arrest Green Beret for Allegedly Betting on Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a master sergeant in the Army for allegedly using classified information to place bets on a military operation in Venezuela. Gannon Ken Van Dyke is accused of using his knowledge of the forthcoming raid to place $33,000 in bets, which resulted in winnings of approximately $400,000. According to the indictment, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account and placed 13 bets between December 26, 2025, and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the US military operation in Venezuela. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint in federal court. Van Dyke, an active-duty soldier with the US Army Special Forces, was involved in the planning and execution of the military operation to detain former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. After the raid, Van Dyke allegedly withdrew his winnings, converted them to a cryptocurrency, and attempted to conceal his identity by asking Polymarket to delete his account and changing his email address. The incident has drawn attention from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of betting using confidential information.