US Strike Kills Tren de Aragua Leader in Venezuela

A US military strike has removed the founder of one of Latin America's largest criminal organizations from the field. Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as Niño Guerrero, led Tren de Aragua for more than a decade. The group expanded from a Venezuelan prison into a network spanning at least eight countries and engaged in drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, and human smuggling.

President Trump stated on Truth Social that US Southern Command conducted the strike at his direction and that Venezuelan security forces participated. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and US Southern Command confirmed Guerrero was killed at a compound in Bolívar state. Venezuela's information ministry described the event as clashes with criminal groups during a joint operation supported by intelligence sharing. The State Department had previously offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Guerrero built the organization while incarcerated at Tocorón prison in Aragua state. He escaped before a 2023 government raid that involved 11,000 security personnel. The gang's growth coincided with Venezuela's economic crisis that began in 2014. US authorities designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025.

The strike follows the January 2026 US operation that removed Nicolás Maduro from power. Current Venezuelan authorities under Delcy Rodríguez have cooperated with Washington on security and energy issues since that change. Earlier US strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, which the administration linked to the same network, killed more than 200 people and drew legal criticism from scholars who questioned the absence of due process.

No independent footage or forensic confirmation of the Bolívar strike has been released. Venezuelan opposition figures and some regional governments welcomed the outcome while noting the need for sustained pressure on remaining leadership.