US, Venezuela confirm killing of Tren de Aragua leader

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the leader of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, had been killed in a US strike in Venezuela. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump described the operation as a "swift and lethal kinetic" strike and declared that the gang no longer had safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else. Venezuela's Ministry of Communications confirmed the death, stating that Guerrero Flores was "neutralized" during clashes in a joint operation with the US in the southeastern state of Bolivar.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the strike occurred earlier in the week at one of the gang's compounds in Venezuela. The US State Department had offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to Guerrero Flores' arrest.

Tren de Aragua originated over a decade ago in a prison in Venezuela's central Aragua state, where Guerrero Flores and other inmates took control, turning the facility into a city-like complex with a zoo, baseball field, casino, and restaurants. The gang expanded transnationally as millions of Venezuelans emigrated. Several countries, including Peru and Colombia, have accused the group of fueling rising violence. Guerrero Flores faced racketeering, drug, and firearms charges filed in New York in December.

The Trump administration has also targeted the gang with strikes in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean on boats suspected of smuggling drugs to the US. Trump previously claimed the gang operated under Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but a declassified US intelligence assessment contradicts that assertion.