US kills Tren de Aragua Guerrero leader in attack on compound

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. killed Tren De Aragua drug cartel leader Niño Guerrero in a strike that was carried out with the help of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said.

“The United States Southern Command conducted a swift and deadly kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero,” the president said Friday night on the Truth Social. The post was accompanied by a video shot from above of a building with a green roof being destroyed in a massive explosion.

“This action was closely coordinated with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we work very well,” Trump added. “As a result, the Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have a safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else.”

Trump designated the group as a terrorist organization as one of his first acts after returning to office last year.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X that Guerrero, 43, was “confirmed killed” in the gang attack in Venezuela. He did not specify the location of the site.

After starting in a Venezuelan prison more than a decade ago, Tren de Aragua has spread across Latin America, reaching the US in part through its involvement in human trafficking and undocumented migration. It also deals in extortion, arms trafficking, prostitution, illegal mining, robberies and kidnappings. Some of its senior leaders are believed to be outside Venezuela.

The killing marks the most significant U.S. operation against the gang to date and underscores growing security cooperation between Washington and Caracas following the U.S.-led ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in January.

Earlier: Venezuela moves to open energy sector to private investment

In a federal indictment last December, prosecutors in New York charged Guerrero, whose real name is Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, with racketeering, terrorism, drug trafficking and other charges.

A $5 million reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.

“Guerrero Flores operated Tren de Aragua as a transnational crime syndicate – laundering money through cryptocurrencies, smuggling drugs by the ton, selling weapons of war and organizing acts of terrorism across borders,” Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Louis A. D’Ambrosio said in a statement. “He ran this empire from prison, protected by corruption, and in collaboration with a narco-state cartel whose intent was to flood the United States with cocaine.”

Born in the central city of Maracay, Guerrero has racked up criminal charges since the early 2000s and escaped prison several times. He later emerged as the leader of the Tren de Aragua, transforming the group from a prison gang based in Tocorón prison into a transnational criminal organization with operations throughout Latin America and beyond.

Trump accused Venezuela, under Maduro at the time, of being a haven for the Tren de Aragua and other narcotics organizations.

Maduro is being held in a federal detention facility in Brooklyn after being indicted on charges that include alleged collaboration with the Tren de Aragua and other criminal organizations.

–With assistance from Josh Wingrove and Nicole Yapur.

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