A FORMER US Green Beret who organized a failed “Rambo-style” coup d’etat in Venezuela has been arrested on federal arms smuggling charges.
Jordan Goudreau, 48, was arrested in New York and is accused of organizing with Venezuelan army deserters in a cross-border raid to remove President Nicolas Maduro in 2020.
In a federal indictment unsealed this week in Florida, Goudreau and a Venezuelan partner, Yacsy Alvarez, are both accused of violating US arms control laws.
The pair are accused of allegedly assembling and smuggling AR-styled weapons, ammo, night vision goggles, and other military equipment from America into Venezuela through Colombia.
Goudreau, a three-time Bronze Star recipient for bravery in Iraq and Afghanistan, owns a private security firm, Silvercorp, which worked security, planning, and even led international security teams for then President Donald Trump as well as the Secretary of Defense, according to his website and photos.
But it wasn’t until 2020 that Goudreau claimed responsibility for a military coup on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with a militia of soldiers he trained in camps in Colombia.
On May 3, known as the Bay of Piglets, Goudreau and his group of rebels entered the country by boat with the plan of storming the beach, taking control of an airfield, capturing Maduro and other high-level figures in his administration, and then expelling them from the country.
But the group was easily wiped out by Venezuela’s military forces, which had already infiltrated the group and knew of their plans.
Two other former Green Berets and colleagues of Goudreau who participated in the attempted coup, Luke Denman and Airan Berry, were captured during the assault and spent years in Venezuela’s prisons.
That is until a prisoner swap last year between Venezuela and the US that included both men and other incarcerated Americans for a Maduro ally held in the US on money laundering charges.
Speaking at a press conference after the failed raid, President Maduro held up a pair of US passports – reading off the names and birth dates of both captured men.
Maduro branded Denman, 34, and Berry, 41, “terrorist mercenaries” and alleged they were part of a plot masterminded by the US, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, and neighboring Colombia.
At first, US officials denied any knowledge of the “Rambo mercenary plot” led by Goudreau.
However, the DEA later admitted to being tipped off about the weapons and other supplies being smuggled across the border by Goudreau earlier this year by an informant, according to reports.
This information was later passed on to the Department of Homeland Security, but ultimately no investigation was ever conducted.
The DEA originally believed that the weapons were destined for leftist rebel groups or gangs in Colombia, former officials said on the condition of anonymity.
Goudreau reportedly got the idea for a coup after meeting with Trump’s longtime personal bodyguard Keith Schiller, who previously attended a meeting with Goudreau and associates of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó in Miami.
Goudreau also spoke with a billionaire backer for funding.
US officials also reportedly discussed whether to organize and back guerrilla fighters in camps – but ultimately decided against it, according to The Washington Post.
But Trump and the White House at the time said Schiller cut off all contact with Goudreau after the meeting and denied any involvement in Goudreau’s plan or actions.
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