President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States military, in cooperation with Venezuelan forces, has killed the alleged leader of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that became a central target of his administration’s immigration and security crackdown.
“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 on Truth Social.
The Venezuelan government confirmed the operation in its own statement, describing it as a “joint operation between Venezuelan and United States security agencies in the southeastern Bolívar state.” It said clashes occurred with members of criminal groups during the operation, resulting in the “neutralization” of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known by the alias Niño Guerrero. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that U.S. forces struck a Tren de Aragua compound inside Venezuela to carry out the attack.
Guerrero Flores had been charged in December in a Manhattan federal court with racketeering conspiracy, lending support to terrorists, and other crimes spanning more than a decade. Federal prosecutors described him as “the mastermind of Tren de Aragua‘s evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization.” The State Department had offered $5 million in rewards for information leading to his arrest or conviction. In July of last year, he was also sanctioned by the U.S. government alongside five other alleged Tren de Aragua leaders and affiliates over claims of involvement in illicit drug trade, human smuggling and trafficking, and money laundering.
Trump framed Friday’s strike as a fulfillment of a campaign promise. “During my Campaign, I pledged to expel these monsters from our Country, and bring Justice to the families of those they slaughtered,” he wrote. “With this action, the United States Military has brought retribution for them, their families, and their loved ones.”
The president also highlighted the collaboration with Venezuelan authorities, writing that the operation “was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well.” Hegseth echoed that sentiment, stating that the operation “underscores the shared U.S. and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere.”
The cooperation between Washington and Caracas reflects a dramatic shift in relations between the two countries following the arrest and removal of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January. Maduro, currently in federal custody in New York, faces charges of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and weapons-related offenses. He has pleaded not guilty.
The State Department designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025, shortly after Trump returned to office, placing the gang at the center of his deportation and immigration enforcement agenda. The administration has consistently blamed the gang for violence and drug trafficking in U.S. cities, though a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment previously contradicted the administration’s claim that the gang operated under Maduro’s direct control.
Friday’s strike is the latest in a series of aggressive military actions the Trump administration has taken against what it calls “narcoterrorists.” Since September, the U.S. military has struck dozens of alleged drug-smuggling boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, killing at least 207 people, without publicly providing evidence of drug smuggling in each case.
Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago inside a lawless Venezuelan prison in Aragua state before expanding across Latin America and into the United States as millions of Venezuelans migrated in search of better living conditions. The gang has been linked to violence, extortion, and criminal activity across multiple continents.
