President Donald Trump said Friday that U.S. forces killed the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang in a strike carried out in concert with the Venezuelan government.
“At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “This action was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well.”
The Venezuelan government said in a statement that “in the course of a combined operation incorporating the security services of Venezuela and the U.S. … Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero”, head of a criminal organization, was neutralized.”
The operations of Tren de Aragua have been a major point of friction between the U.S. and Venezuela during the second Trump administration. Trump accused former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro of using the gang’s members to spread crime and disorder on American soil.
The State Department designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025. Guerrero was charged in December with racketeering conspiracy, supporting terrorists, and other crimes. The U.S. had offered $5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
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