President Donald Trump announced Friday that a U.S. military operation had killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as Niño Guerrero, the alleged leader of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela-based criminal organization that has become central to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement strategy.
Trump posted the announcement on Truth Social, stating that U.S. Southern Command had executed what he called "a swift and lethal kinetic strike" against Guerrero Flores, describing Tren de Aragua as "one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that U.S. forces struck a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuelan territory to carry out the operation.
The Venezuelan Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to confirm details of the alleged strike or Guerrero Flores's death.
The gang had become a focal point for Trump's deportation agenda following his return to office in January 2025. The State Department designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025, elevating its official status as a security threat.
Federal prosecutors had charged Guerrero Flores in December with racketeering conspiracy and lending support to terrorists, among other crimes. The State Department had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. In describing the charges, prosecutors characterized him as "the mastermind of Tren de Aragua's evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization."
In July, the U.S. government sanctioned Guerrero Flores alongside five other alleged gang leaders and affiliates over claims they engaged in illicit drug trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and money laundering.
Trump framed the operation as fulfilling campaign promises on immigration enforcement. "During my Campaign, I pledged to expel these monsters from our Country, and bring Justice to the families of those they slaughtered," he wrote Friday. "With this action, the United States Military has brought retribution for them, their families, and their loved ones."
The Trump administration emphasized a new level of cooperation with Venezuela on the strike. Trump noted the operation "was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well." Hegseth echoed that message, writing on X that the strike "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 dramatic shift in U.S.-Venezuelan relations follows the arrest and removal of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in early January. Maduro, now in federal custody in New York, faces charges of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. He has pleaded not guilty.
The operation against Guerrero Flores is part of a broader Trump administration campaign targeting what officials call "narco-terrorists." Since September, the U.S. military has struck dozens of alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, resulting in at least 207 deaths, though the military has not provided evidence of drug smuggling activity for those operations.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The Guerrero Flores strike marks a genuine shift in Trump's ability to pressure narcotics networks, but the lack of transparency on civilian casualties in broader Caribbean operations should alarm policymakers more than it currently does."
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