Ex-Green Beret behind Venezuelan raid under federal investigation by DEA
A controversial former Green Beret behind a botched attempt to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is now under federal investigation for gun trafficking, according to a report.
Jordan Goudreau, who has claimed credit for orchestrating the wild mercenary raid to kidnap the Venezuelan strongman, may also have been on the radar of the US Drug Enforcement Administration as early as March, weeks before Sunday’s failed coup attempt, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Two former law enforcement officials told the wire service that a DEA informant told the agency in March that Goudreau was stockpiling weapons in Colombia in preparation for the ill-fated raid — but no investigation was opened because the DEA didn’t know who Goudreau was at the time.
The seizure of the stockpile of $150,000 worth of weapons, including 26 American-made assault rifles with serial numbers removed, night vision goggles, two-way radios, and other gear, prompted the current federal investigation into Goodreau.
But despite the seizure, the planned assault remained on schedule, the report said.
On Sunday, about 60 mercenaries launched the assault on the coastal city of La Guaira, including two former US Special Forces soldiers recruited by Goodreau to lead the attack — Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. The men were enlisted through Goodreau’s Florida-based private security company, Silvercorp.
Maduro announced Thursday that both men were being “well treated, with respect,” and would stand trial in Venezuela, CBS-News reported.
“They are convicts, confessed, caught red-handed and are being judged by the republic’s attorney general, by Venezuela’s civil courts, and the process will be full of guarantees and fair,” Maduro said. “They have confessed their guilt, they broke international law, they broke Venezuelan law.”
Denman outlined the plot in a videotape aired on Venezuelan television Wednesday, which government officials described as a confession.
“I was helping Venezuelans take back control of their country,” Denman says on the video. “Securing the sector, establishing outer security, communication with the tower, bringing in planes, one of which includes one to put Maduro on and take him back to the United States.”
“The only instructions that I received from Jordan was to ensure that we took control of an airport for safe passage for Maduro and the receiving of arms,” he said.
Asked who commanded Jordan, he said, “President Donald Trump.”
The White House has repeatedly denied any involvement, with a senior administration official telling The Post this week that the assertion was “comical.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the federal government would use “every tool” available to secure the safe return of the two Americans.
According to the Associated Press, officials in Congress are now also expressing concern over possible links Goodreau might have had to the federal government.
With Post wires