A U.S. Army master sergeant involved in the military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was arrested and charged with using classified information to place bets on Polymarket prediction markets, winning over $400,000 before the raid occurred on January 5, 2026. He made 13 bets between December 27 and January 2, including one hours before the overnight capture, and allegedly moved his winnings through a foreign cryptocurrency vault to conceal their origin. The arrest highlights a growing concern among lawmakers and the Trump administration about insider betting on classified military operations and geopolitical events, with Congress introducing over a dozen bills this year to regulate prediction markets and penalize government officials who engage in such trading.