Trump Says US Strike Killed Tren de Aragua Leader 'Niño Guerrero' in Venezuela

President Trump announced Friday that a US military strike, carried out jointly with Venezuelan security forces, killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known widely as "Niño Guerrero", the alleged leader of the Tren de Aragua gang. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said US Southern Command delivered what he called a swift and lethal kinetic strike to take out the man he described as the infamous leader of one of the most violent transnational criminal organizations in the world. The Venezuelan government confirmed the operation, describing it as a joint action between Venezuelan and US security agencies in the southeastern state of Bolívar.

Guerrero Flores, 43, had been a wanted fugitive for years, indicted in New York federal court on charges including racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, and cocaine trafficking conspiracy. Federal prosecutors had previously described him as the architect of Tren de Aragua's transformation from a Venezuelan prison gang into a sprawling transnational criminal network with operations across North America, South America, and parts of Europe. The State Department had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture, and the gang itself has been formally designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

Trump framed the strike as the fulfillment of a long-standing campaign promise to crack down on the gang, which he has repeatedly cited as a justification for his administration's aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. "Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else," Trump wrote, vowing continued operations against the group's remaining leadership. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that the strike targeted a Tren de Aragua compound, and Attorney General nominee Jay Clayton, nominated Thursday to be director of national intelligence, had previously called Guerrero Flores the mastermind behind the gang's violent expansion.

The strike is the latest in a string of escalating US military actions against Tren de Aragua figures and assets in the region, following a series of earlier strikes on vessels in the Caribbean allegedly used to smuggle narcotics toward the United States. The operation also underscores the Trump administration's evolving relationship with Venezuela's government, now led by Delcy Rodriguez following the extradition of former president Nicolás Maduro to face US drug trafficking charges. Washington has lifted certain sanctions on Rodriguez's government in recent months while pushing for cooperation on oil extraction and counter-narcotics operations, a dynamic that appears to have enabled Friday's joint strike.