Ex-Green Beret investigated in failed raid

MIAMI — A former Green Beret who has claimed responsibility for an ill-fated military incursion into Venezuela is under federal investigation for arms trafficking, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials.

The investigation into Jordan Goudreau is in its initial stages, and it’s unclear whether it will result in charges, according to a U.S. law enforcement official. The investigation stems from contradictory comments Goudreau has made since a small cadre of volunteer combatants he was advising on Sunday launched an impossible raid aimed at overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Members of the U.S. Congress are also asking the State Department about its knowledge of Goudreau’s plans and raised concerns that he may have violated arms trafficking rules.

An AP investigation published before the failed raid places Goudreau at the center of a plot hatched with a rebellious former Venezuelan Army general, Cliver Alcalá, to secretly train dozens of Venezuelan military deserters in secret camps in Colombia to carry out a swift operation against Maduro. The U.S. has offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction. He was indicted by the Trump administration in March on narcoterrorism charges.

The men were being readied for combat at three camps in Colombia with the help of Goudreau and his Florida-based company, Silvercorp USA, Maduro opponents and aspiring freedom fighters told the AP. But the plot seemed doomed from the start because it lacked Trump administration support and was infiltrated by Maduro’s intelligence network, the AP found.