President Donald Trump says the U.S. military has killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, better known as Niño Guerrero, the leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, in a military strike coordinated with Venezuelan authorities.

The announcement marks one of the Trump administration’s most dramatic moves yet against foreign criminal groups accused of spreading violence, drug trafficking and human trafficking across the Americas.

Trump said U.S. Southern Command carried out what he described as a “swift and lethal” strike targeting Guerrero, whom he called the infamous leader of Tren de Aragua. The president said the operation was conducted with help from Venezuela and warned that the gang would no longer have safe haven.

Venezuelan officials also confirmed that Guerrero had been killed during a joint operation involving clashes with criminal groups.

Guerrero was one of the most wanted figures connected to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that expanded from a prison-based criminal network into a transnational organization operating across Latin America, North America and Europe. U.S. prosecutors had previously charged him with racketeering, terrorism-related offences, drug trafficking and other crimes.

The U.S. State Department had also offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction.


The strike comes after the United States designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. The Trump administration has increasingly treated major cartels and transnational gangs not only as criminal groups, but as national security threats.

Gang leaders who direct violence from abroad can no longer assume they are beyond U.S. reach. For Trump, the strike also fits directly into his broader law-and-order and border security agenda.

However, the operation is also expected to face criticism. Some lawmakers, legal experts and human rights groups have questioned the use of military force against suspected traffickers and gang leaders, warning that such strikes could blur the line between law enforcement and war.

That debate is important, but the political message from the White House is clear. Trump wants to show that the United States will use direct force against foreign criminal organizations if they are accused of threatening American citizens.

The killing of Guerrero is unlikely to end Tren de Aragua by itself. Criminal groups often survive the death of one leader by replacing him quickly. But symbolically, the strike is a major victory for the Trump administration and a warning to other gang leaders operating across borders.

The bigger question now is whether this becomes a one-time operation or the beginning of a wider U.S. military campaign against cartels and transnational gangs in Latin America.

For now, Trump has turned the fight against Tren de Aragua into more than a policing issue. He has made it a national security battle.