US Authorities Arrest Army Green Beret Over Alleged Insider Trading on Venezuela Raid

A US Army master sergeant has been arrested and charged with unlawfully using government secrets for personal gain, after allegedly placing bets on a raid in Venezuela. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a member of the US Army Special Forces, is accused of using his knowledge of the upcoming raid to place $33,000 in bets, which yielded around $400,000 in winnings. According to the indictment, Van Dyke created a Polymarket account in late December 2025 and made 13 bets between then and early January 2026, speculating on the likelihood of US forces landing in Venezuela, removing Maduro, and other related events. The US Department of Justice claims that Van Dyke violated the trust placed in him by the US government, using classified information about a sensitive military operation to turn a profit. 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 American service members' lives at risk. After the raid, Van Dyke allegedly withdrew his winnings, converted them to a cryptocurrency, and attempted to conceal his identity by deleting his Polymarket account and changing his email address. The case has drawn attention from news organizations and prompted a response from US President Donald Trump, who expressed his disapproval of the use of confidential information for betting purposes.