Trump reports US strike killed accused Tren de Aragua chief

President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. military killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the accused head of Tren de Aragua, in a strike in Venezuela. The claim, if confirmed, would mark an escalation in the administration’s campaign against a gang the United States has designated a terrorist organization.

Trump identified Guerrero Flores by his alias, Niño Guerrero, and described him as the gang’s leader. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X that the operation took place earlier in the week at a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela.

Trump’s social media post included what he called unclassified footage showing a small green-roofed building exploding from an overhead view. He said the strike showed that Tren de Aragua members would not find sanctuary in Venezuela or elsewhere.

Venezuela’s communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the operation, according to The Associated Press.

Guerrero Flores was already wanted by U.S. authorities. Federal prosecutors in New York charged him in December with racketeering conspiracy and other offenses, including providing support to terrorists, in a case authorities said covered criminal activity over more than 10 years.

The U.S. State Department had offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest. Jay Clayton, then the U.S. attorney, said when the charges were announced that Tren de Aragua was responsible for acts of violence, extortion and drug trafficking across North America, South America and Europe. Trump nominated Clayton on Thursday to serve as director of national intelligence.

Hegseth said the strike showed cooperation between the United States and Venezuela against what he called narco-terrorists. Trump has made Tren de Aragua a central target of his immigration and crime agenda, accusing the group of helping drive violence and illegal drug activity in U.S. cities.

The administration has also used military force against small vessels it says were smuggling drugs toward the United States. At least 207 people have been killed in U.S. strikes on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean since early September, according to The Associated Press.

Trump and other officials have repeatedly linked Tren de Aragua to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. A declassified U.S. intelligence assessment contradicted Trump’s claim that the gang operated under Maduro’s control. The AP has reported that U.S. authorities removed Maduro from Venezuela in January to face U.S. drug charges.

Tren de Aragua began more than a decade ago in a prison in Venezuela’s Aragua state. Guerrero Flores returned there in 2013 after convictions including murder, at a time when Venezuela’s economy was deteriorating because of corruption, mismanagement and falling oil prices.

Authorities and researchers say Guerrero Flores and other inmates gained power inside the neglected prison, using violence and extortion to control prisoners. Over time, the facility came to include amenities such as a zoo, a baseball field, a casino and restaurants, while Guerrero Flores occupied a private suite.

The gang’s size is not clear. Peru and Colombia, both home to large Venezuelan migrant populations, have accused Tren de Aragua of involvement in regional violence. InSight Crime, a think tank that tracks organized crime in Latin America, says the group does not have the kind of large-scale role in international cocaine trafficking associated with some criminal networks from Colombia, Central America and Brazil.

Trump campaigned for a second term on stricter immigration enforcement and a tougher approach to crime. The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has found that immigration remains one of Trump’s strongest issues with the public, even as his approval on the economy has weakened.

This story draws on original reporting from NPR.