US Army Green Beret Arrested for Allegedly Betting on Confidential Venezuela Raid

The US Department of Justice has arrested a master sergeant in the Army's Special Forces, alleging that he used classified information about a military operation in Venezuela to place bets worth $33,000, yielding approximately $400,000 in winnings. The sergeant, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, allegedly created a Polymarket account and placed 13 bets between December 26, 2025, and January 2, 2026, on contracts related to the potential US invasion of Venezuela and the removal of Nicolas Maduro. Van Dyke, who was involved in the planning and execution of the operation, allegedly attempted to conceal his identity and delete his account after the raid. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also pursuing an insider trading complaint against Van Dyke, with the agency's chairman stating that the defendant's actions endangered US national security and put American service members' lives at risk. The incident has sparked comments from US President Donald Trump, who expressed disapproval of the concept of betting on sensitive information.