US arrests a former Green Beret over the failed 2020 raid into Venezuela to remove Maduro

CARACAS (AP) — A former U.S. Green Beret who in 2020 organized a failed cross-border raid of Venezuelan army deserters to remove President Nicolás Maduro has been arrested in New York on federal arms smuggling charges.

A federal indictment unsealed this week in Tampa, Florida, accuses Jordan Goudreau and a Venezuelan partner, Yacsy Alvarez, of violating U.S. arms control laws when they allegedly assembled and sent to Colombia AR-styled weapons, ammunition, silencers, night vision goggles and other defense equipment requiring a U.S. export license.

Goudreau, 48, also was charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods from the United States and unlawful possession of a machine gun, among 14 counts. Goudreau appeared in federal court following his Tuesday arrest in Manhattan but it was not clear a day later whether he would be released from custody pending trial. He was being held at a federal detention center in Brooklyn.