President Donald Trump announced a U.S. military strike successfully killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as Niño Guerrero, the notorious leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang. The operation, confirmed by both the Pentagon and Venezuela, was coordinated closely between the two countries.
Tren de Aragua, designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, is infamous for its involvement in human trafficking, drug smuggling, extortion, and other violent criminal activities across South America.
President Donald Trump announced Friday that U.S. forces successfully conducted a military strike, eliminating Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, widely known as Niño Guerrero, the notorious leader of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua prison gang.
"At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Nino Guerrero the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth," Trump declared in a post on Truth Social Friday evening. He further emphasized, "This action was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well."
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth corroborated the President's statement on X, confirming the strike took place earlier in the week and that Guerrero "was confirmed killed during the strike."
Venezuela's information ministry also acknowledged the operation, stating that clashes with criminal group members occurred in the country's Bolívar state, resulting in the neutralization of their leader, Guerrero. The ministry highlighted that the operation benefited from specialized technological support and was executed through close cooperation and intelligence sharing between authorities of both nations.
The Trump administration has consistently targeted Guerrero and other key figures within the Tren de Aragua organization with sanctions, citing their alleged involvement in widespread criminal enterprises including illicit drug smuggling, human trafficking, and money laundering. The State Department has officially designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.
Trump has previously asserted that Tren de Aragua coordinated its U.S. activities with the Venezuelan government under President Nicolás Maduro. This alleged connection has been used by the Trump administration to justify the deportation of some immigrants in the U.S. to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Tren de Aragua is infamous for its deep involvement in human trafficking, controlling critical routes utilized by Venezuelan and other South American migrants traveling south to more prosperous nations like Chile or heading towards Europe. Latin American police officials have also linked the group to extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, contract killings, various forms of smuggling, and organized retail theft across a vast territory spanning from Panama to Brazil and along the Andean corridor.
Guerrero himself gained notoriety for escaping from Venezuela's Tocoron prison alongside other gang leaders just prior to a major police raid in 2023.
Citizens continue their daily lives as the political shadow of deposed President Nicolas Maduro fades from public consciousness in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 11, 2026. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
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