By Anna Commander
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President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. Southern Command carried out a military strike killing Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” alleged leader of Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua.
In the statement to Truth Social, Trump described the operation as a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” and characterized Tren de Aragua as one of the world’s most "bloodthirsty" terrorist organizations. He said the action seemingly fulfilled a campaign promise to combat transnational criminal groups and seek justice for victims of crimes attributed to the gang, citing several high-profile cases that became central to his administration’s immigration and public safety messaging like the murder of Laken Reilly.
Trump said the strike was conducted with cooperation from Venezuelan authorities.
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When reached for comment on Friday night, the Pentagon referred Newsweek to a statement from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on X: "Earlier this week, the @DeptofWar — in full collaboration with Venezuelan security forces — conducted a kinetic strike on a Tren de Aragua (TdA) compound in Venezuela. TdA founder & leader Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, aka 'Niño Guerrero,' was confirmed killed during the strike. 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. We will continue to work closely with security partners, like Venezuela — and counties [sic] in the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C) partners — to take the fight to our enemies."
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The statement also tied the operation to broader administration policies on border security, immigration enforcement and efforts to dismantle criminal cartels and gangs operating across the Americas.
Trump criticized former President Joe Biden’s border policies, arguing that they allowed "Illegal Criminals" to harm Americans. He further claimed that Tren de Aragua no longer has a safe haven in Venezuela and pledged continued action against the organization.
Trump's post included an unclassified video of a building with a green roof, showing an object on the left side strike the building before it burst into flames, with a cloud of smoke rising.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York previously charged Guerrero Flores in a sweeping federal indictment filed last year, alleging he led the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua as a transnational racketeering enterprise. According to prosecutors, he was accused of directing a broad range of criminal activity, including drug trafficking, firearms offenses, extortion and violent crimes.
Authorities describe Tren de Aragua as a structured organization that expanded beyond Venezuela into North and South America as well as parts of Europe, operating through local cells that functioned under centralized leadership.
The indictment further alleges that Guerrero Flores and his associates coordinated with major narcotics trafficking networks to transport large quantities of cocaine from South America into the United States, using established smuggling routes through Central America and Mexico.
Federal prosecutors also contend that the organization maintained control over territories and financed its operations through violence, intimidation and corruption.
“As alleged, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores has been the mastermind of Tren de Aragua’s evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization that committed countless acts of violence, extortion, and drug trafficking all over North America, South America, and Europe,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in the release. “In the Southern District of New York, we have now charged over 30 members or associates of Tren de Aragua with federal crimes, and we are committed to bankrupting the cartels and transnational gangs who flood our streets with deadly drugs and pursue death, violence and corruption as a way of life. This is what New Yorkers want, and it is what they deserve.”
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