Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known by his alias "Niño Guerrero" and widely regarded as the leader of the Venezuelan criminal mega-gang Tren de Aragua, has been killed in a joint military operation carried out by the United States and Venezuela. US President Donald Trump announced the news on Friday evening via his Truth Social platform, describing it as a "swift and lethal kinetic strike" executed by the US Southern Command in close coordination with Venezuelan authorities. The Venezuelan government subsequently confirmed its participation, stating that the operation took place in the southeastern state of Bolívar — a mineral-rich region bordering Brazil and Guyana that has long been home to large illegal mining operations controlled by armed groups.
The Venezuelan government's statement described "a combined operation between security agencies of Venezuela and the United States," saying that criminal structures operating in the area had been dismantled and that Guerrero Flores was "neutralised" during clashes with members of the criminal groups. The operation, the statement added, involved "specialised technological support" and was conducted through intelligence-sharing and cooperation mechanisms between the two countries. Venezuelan sources familiar with the episode indicated that, while the operation was coordinated, no US military personnel were physically present on Venezuelan soil during the strike. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike had occurred earlier in the week, and Trump shared unclassified aerial footage showing a small building exploding.
Guerrero Flores rose to infamy through his control of the Tocorón prison in Venezuela's central Aragua state — from which Tren de Aragua takes its name. He and a small group of fellow inmates exploited Venezuela's economic collapse and institutional neglect to take full control of the facility, transforming it into a self-contained compound with a zoo, baseball field, casino, restaurants and a lavish personal suite. After escaping in 2012 and being recaptured, he was serving a 17-year sentence when he disappeared shortly before a 11,000-officer Venezuelan government operation stormed the prison in September 2023. His whereabouts had been unknown since. The US State Department had offered up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest, and a New York federal court had charged him with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes spanning more than a decade.
Founded between 2007 and 2009 as a prison gang, Tren de Aragua has expanded dramatically, exploiting Venezuela's economic crisis and the mass migration of millions of Venezuelans across Latin America and beyond. The organisation now has cells in Colombia, Chile, Peru, Brazil and the United States, and has been linked to extortion, human trafficking, drug smuggling, illegal gold mining and contract killings across the continent. The US designated it a foreign terrorist organisation earlier this year. Unlike major Colombian or Central American cartels, the group is not primarily involved in large-scale cocaine trafficking across international borders, according to InSight Crime, a Latin American crime-focused think tank.
The operation marks a significant moment in the Trump administration's broader security push in the Western Hemisphere. Trump framed the strike as proof of a new model of regional cooperation, noting that similar joint operations are already underway with Ecuador, and that Guatemala recently agreed to allow US military strikes within its territory. "Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else," Trump wrote, adding that his administration would pursue such groups "anytime, anyplace." Hegseth echoed the message, saying the strike demonstrated "the shared US and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists." The operation comes amid a wider US military campaign that has struck dozens of vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean accused of drug smuggling, a campaign in which at least 207 people have been killed since early September.