Americas

Ex-Green Beret's DNA Found on Smuggled Arms Meant for Failed 2020 Venezuela Coup - Filing

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US federal investigators found that former US Green Beret Jordan Goudreau's DNA was found on some of the 60 assault rifles he allegedly smuggled from the United States to South America for a failed coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in 2020, court documents revealed.
Sputnik
"Goudreau’s DNA was recovered from two of the rifles that Colombian authorities seized, including one that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has concluded meets the definition of machine gun under the National Firearms Act," prosecutors stated in the court document.
Goudreau was arrested in New York last week on federal arms smuggling charges.
According to court documents, from at least as early as November 2019 and through March 23, 2020, Goudreau and others are alleged to have unlawfully exported AR-type rifles, night vision devices, laser sights, and other equipment from the United States to Colombia to carry out an armed incursion into Venezuela.
Diosdado Cabello discloses evidence of a mercenary plot against Venezuela, holding up an image of Jordan Goudreau, founder of Silvercorp USA.
Court documents also stated Goudreau enlisted the unpaid services of US persons who, among other things, helped assemble approximately 60 firearms that were smuggled into Colombia.
On March 23, 2020, Colombian National Police seized a cache of approximately 24 semi-automatic rifles, two fully automatic rifles, laser sights, silencers, and other military-type equipment at a highway checkpoint, the court document added.
The US Justice Department said in a separate statement that Goudreau faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Although Goudreau lived in New York, he frequently traveled to Tampa, Florida, where he usually lived on a boat that is docked at an Air Force base he had access to, Goudreau's attorney noted in the court filing.
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