The United States military has killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, leader of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, in an airstrike. President Donald Trump confirmed the strike, stating it was a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” carried out by the US Southern Command. This operation, coordinated with Venezuelan authorities, targeted one of Latin America's most powerful criminal organizations.
The airstrike happened at Trump's direction, successfully executing Niño Guerrero. The Tren de Aragua gang, under Guerrero's leadership, is known globally. President Trump previously accused the group of “irregular warfare” against the US. He officially declared it a foreign terrorist organization, intensifying US pressure on its operations.
This event follows American forces seizing former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. He faced criminal charges in New York, accused of collaborating with the gang. Since then, the US has sought closer ties with Maduro's successor, Delcy Rodríguez. Washington lifted sanctions on her and pushed for collaboration on oil extraction from Venezuela’s plentiful reserves. The coordination signals evolving geopolitical and economic interests in Venezuela.
President Trump posted footage appearing to show the airstrike. The video showed a green building and a nearby shed being destroyed, with debris flying into the air. Trump announced that the military action was “coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well.” Venezuelan authorities also confirmed their involvement, describing it as a “joint operation.”
Under Guerrero's leadership, Tren de Aragua expanded across South America. The gang operated in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. It diversified its criminal activities from extorting migrants to sex-trafficking, contract killing, and kidnapping. The US State Department had branded it a “transnational criminal organisation” and offered millions for Guerrero's capture.
The Tren de Aragua originated as a prison gang in Venezuela's Tocorón Prison. Guerrero transformed this prison into a complex with amenities like a zoo and nightclub. In September 2023, 11,000 soldiers stormed the jail to regain control, but Guerrero escaped. Despite imprisonment, he expanded the gang's influence, seizing gold mines and drug corridors.
The gang's expansion out of Venezuela coincided with the country's humanitarian and economic crisis starting in 2014. It operates through alliances with local criminal groups. In Ecuador, it works with groups linked to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. In Colombia, some allege ties to the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group.
The Trump administration has launched many strikes on boats suspected of drug trafficking into the US. Over 200 people have died in these strikes since September, according to US media reports. These operations have faced scrutiny regarding their legality and evidence linking the boats to drug activities. The White House, however, stated that President Trump determined the US is in an armed conflict with drug cartels. It designated crews of drug-running boats as “combatants,” affirming the legality of these actions.