Venezuela says leader of Tren de Aragua gang killed in 'joint operation' with US

US President Donald Trump announced Friday that a "swift and lethal kinetic" US strike had killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, whom he called "the infamous leader" of the Tren de Aragua gang. The gang has been labelled by the United States as a terrorist organisation. Guerrero Flores was charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including lending support to terrorists in crimes that stretched more than a decade, authorities announced in December.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the strike occurred earlier in the week on a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela. Venezuela's government released a statement confirming its participation and revealed the operation took place in the southeastern state of Bolivar. "During the operation, clashes occurred with members of criminal groups, resulting in the death of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias 'Niño Guerrero,' the leader of one of these criminal organisations," according to the statement.

The US State Department had offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to Guerrero Flores’ arrest. In a post on his social media site, Trump wrote, "Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else and, under my leadership, we will find these vicious murderers and drug lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong." Hegseth said the operation underscores the shared commitment to fight narco-terrorists.

Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago at an infamously lawless prison in Venezuela’s central state of Aragua. The gang expanded as millions of Venezuelans migrated to other Latin American countries or the US. Guerrero Flores returned to the prison in Aragua for murder and other convictions in 2013, when Venezuela’s crisis began. He and other inmates assumed control of the prison, transforming it into a sort of city with a zoo, baseball field, casino and restaurants. Guerrero Flores had his own lavish suite.

Trump and administration officials have consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for violence and illicit drug dealing in some US cities. The president spent months repeating the claim—contradicted by a declassified US intelligence assessment—that the gang operated under Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s control. The US seized Maduro in January to face drug charges. Since early September, US military strikes on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean have killed at least 207 people.

The size of the gang is unclear. Countries with large Venezuelan migrant populations, including Peru and Colombia, have accused the group of being behind a spree of violence. However, unlike other criminal organisations from Colombia, Central America and Brazil, Tren de Aragua has no large-scale involvement in smuggling cocaine across international borders, according to InSight Crime.