US Eliminates Leader of Tren De Aragua Gang in Venezuela Strike
President Trump: “We will find these vicious murderers … and send them to the depths of hell where they belong.”
The U.S. military eliminated the leader of the Tren de Aragua narco-terrorist gang, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, in a recent strike inside Venezuela, President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday. The 42-year-old drug lord, widely known as “Niño Guerrero,” was the leader of a transnational criminal syndicate spanning South America, the United States, and Europe.
“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,” President Trump posted on Truth Social.
“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.” – President DONALD J. TRUMP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/3R5IPxhPXX
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 13, 2026
President Trump assured that narco-terrorists like Guerrero “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.”
Guerrero-led Tren de Aragua, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, is one of the most feared gangs in Latin America. The BBC observed that under “Guerrero’s leadership, Tren de Aragua expanded into Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile and diversified from extorting migrants into sex-trafficking, contract killing and kidnapping.”
Earlier this week, the @DeptofWar — in full collaboration with Venezuelan security forces — conducted a kinetic strike on a Tren de Aragua (TdA) compound in Venezuela. TdA founder & leader Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, aka “Niño Guerrero,” was confirmed killed during the…
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) June 13, 2026
Guerrero’s reach extended far beyond the criminal underworld. He used his drug trafficking profits to gain political influence and secure protection. The drug lord had ties to Venezuela’s ousted president Nicolás Maduro and was named as a co-conspirator in the indictment. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are sitting in a New York City jail on drug trafficking charges following their capture by the U.S. military in early January.
Earlier this week, the @DeptofWar — in full collaboration with Venezuelan security forces — conducted a kinetic strike on a Tren de Aragua (TdA) compound in Venezuela. TdA founder & leader Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, aka “Niño Guerrero,” was confirmed killed during the…
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) June 13, 2026
According to Reuters, “Tren de Aragua is known for being involved in human trafficking and controls routes taken by Venezuelans and other South American migrants heading south to relatively prosperous Chile and other destinations in South America or Europe.”
The Venezuelan government cooperated with the U.S. in the operation that led to the killing of the wanted narco-terrorist. “Venezuelan authorities confirmed their involvement in what they described as a “joint operation,” the BBC confirmed.
NBC News reported:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that U.S. forces struck a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela to carry out the attack.
Tren de Aragua quickly became a target of Trump’s immigration enforcement after he returned to office in 2025, putting the gang at the center of his deportation agenda. The State Department designated Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025.
Guerrero Flores in December was charged by the U.S. with racketeering conspiracy and lending support to terrorists, along with other crimes, with the State Department offering $5 million in rewards for information that would help arrest or convict him.
Federal prosecutors in December called him “the mastermind of Tren de Aragua’s evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization.”
In July, he was sanctioned by the U.S. government, alongside five other alleged Tren de Aragua leaders and affiliates, over claims that they had engaged in numerous crimes, including illicit drug trade, human smuggling and trafficking and money laundering.
FROM @POTUS — 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. Before I returned to… pic.twitter.com/2dXhF5IWoH
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) June 13, 2026
The strike is part of a wider U.S. campaign to combat foreign crime and drug gangs. On January 20, President Trump signed an executive order, designating Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua, El Salvador’s MS-13, and six Mexican gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
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Comments
Good news. Takes some very up to the minute intel on the ground and an open green light to the strike operators to act on it.
Perhaps. Do you think the actual target was hit, or was it just a stand-in offered by the steadfast and dependable Venezuelan gov’t? I’m not counting any chickens yet . . .
I understand.
Meh, rinse and repeat until the supply of stand ins runs dry. Plenty of other narcoterrorist targets in our hemisphere to deal with. Well past time we began returning to a more proactive policy of applying sufficient force to protect our Citizens within our hemisphere and reestablished our hegemony.
YEA! for the good guys.
Still not sick of winning. 🏆
👍
I smell toasty beans
Another Democrat donor bits the dust?
touchable
👍
From his point of view, one minute he was planning new nefarious deeds, then there was a bump, and the next instant he was saying hello to Satan.
.
Hola! BOOM!
The End
One of the Maduro holdovers gave this guy a d another the heads up that the US was stalking him. That guy should be taken to prison immediately.
Now do the mullahs and IRGC in Iran.
Please.
They already did. In some cases also taking out not just the ‘next man up’ but their replacements, one after another, several layers down the org chart.