The president of the United States Donald Trump announced on Friday night that the U.S. Southern Command carried out a "swift and lethal" attack that resulted in the death of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias "Niño Guerrero," regarded as the top leader of the Aragua Train, one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the hemisphere.
Trump made the announcement via his platform Truth Social and included a video showing a projectile hitting a building that bursts into flames. The White House, the Pentagon, and Southern Command did not provide additional details about the operation immediately.
"Under my orders, the United States Southern Command carried out a rapid and lethal kinetic attack to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of the Tren de Aragua, one of the bloodiest terrorist organizations on the planet," the president wrote.
According to Trump, the operation was closely coordinated with the Venezuelan government. "This action was closely coordinated with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are collaborating very well," he stated. His administration maintained a position of maximum pressure against the regime of the dictator Nicolás Maduro, until the American military captured him and took him to prison in the U.S. on January 3.
The U.S. president framed the action as fulfilling a campaign promise and as retribution for the crimes committed by the gang on American soil. He specifically mentioned two emblematic victims: 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, found dead in Houston in June 2024, and 22-year-old Laken Riley, murdered in Georgia in February 2024. "With this action, the United States Army has avenged their deaths, as well as those of their families and loved ones," he stated.
Trump also recalled the measures taken at the beginning of his second term: the designation of the Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2025, alongside six Mexican cartels, the deportation of thousands of gang members, and the declaration of war against transnational cartels.
The Department of State had offered a reward of up to 5 million dollars for information leading to the capture of Guerrero Flores, announced in July 2025. In December of that same year, a federal court in New York formally charged him with conspiracy to commit extortion, supporting terrorist activities, and other crimes. Federal prosecutor Jay Clayton indicated that the organization was responsible for acts of violence, extortion, and drug trafficking in North America, South America, and Europe.
The Aragua Train is a Venezuelan mega-criminal gang that emerged in the Tocorón prison in the state of Aragua, from where "Niño Guerrero" — sentenced in 2018 to 17 years in prison for homicide, drug trafficking, and other crimes — directed the expansion of the organization into Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and ultimately to the United States and Europe, according to reported by the BBC.
In July 2025, El Salvador handed over 252 Venezuelans accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua to Venezuela in exchange for Venezuelan political prisoners and ten American citizens detained in that country, in an operation that demonstrated the transnational nature of the pressure on the gang. The U.S. also transferred alleged members of the Tren de Aragua to the Guantanamo naval base and deported others to Venezuela in operations conducted between February and April 2025.
Trump's policy of "war on cartels" is part of a broader pressure on Venezuela and its regional allies, including the Cuban regime, which Trump has accused of collaborating with drug trafficking and transnational organized crime. Cuba, which has historically served as a political and intelligence support for Maduro's regime, is included in the context that Washington identifies as complicit in the deterioration of regional security.
Trump concluded his announcement with a direct warning: "The Aragua Train terrorists no longer have a safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else, and under my leadership, we will find these ruthless killers and drug lords anytime and anywhere, and we will send them to the depths of hell, where they belong."
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