US forces killed the leader of Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua in an airstrike, President Trump announced Friday.
“At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s post included a dramatic video that showed a projectile hitting a building, which appeared to be in a remote area, and causing a massive, fiery explosion.
The president called the attack “retribution” for the violent crimes perpetrated by Tren de Argua, which he described as a “foreign army” that was allowed to “rape, maim, and murder American Citizens with total impunity” under former President Joe Biden.
“Early in my Administration, I delivered on my promise to designate Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, deport thousands of evil criminals, and wage war against the Cartels, who have long been waging war against our Citizens, while weak leaders left America helpless and defensive,” Trump continued.
The president said the airstrike was “coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well.”
“As a result, 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 drugs lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong,” Trump concluded.
The Trump administration designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization last February.
In December, an indictment against Guerrero, 42, was unsealed in the Southern District of New York, accusing him participating in a racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists; cocaine importation conspiracy; and using and carrying firearms, machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of drug trafficking.
“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,” US Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement at the time.
The State Department had offered up to $5 million for information leading to Guerrero’s capture and conviction.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth noted on X that strike took place “earlier this week” in “full collaboration with Venezuelan security forces.”
Hegseth said the building struck was a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela.
Since last September, the Trump administration has aggressively targeted alleged Tren de Aragua gang members – striking dozens of alleged drug smuggling boats in Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, killing more than 200 suspected narcoterrorists.
