Tren De Aragua leader killed in US airstrike, Trump says

US forces killed the leader of Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua in an airstrike, President Trump announced Friday. “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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump’s post included a dramatic video that showed a projectile hitting a building, which appeared to be in a remote area, and causing a massive, fiery explosion.The president called the attack “retribution” for the violent crimes perpetrated by Tren de Argua, which he described as a “foreign army” that was allowed to “rape, maim, and murder American Citizens with total impunity” under former President Joe Biden. “Early in my Administration, I delivered on my promise to designate Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, deport thousands of evil criminals, and wage war against the Cartels, who have long been waging war against our Citizens, while weak leaders left America helpless and defensive,” Trump continued. The president said the airstrike was “coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well.”“As a result, Tren de Aragua terrorists 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,” Trump concluded. The Trump administration designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization last February. In December, an indictment against Guerrero, 42, was unsealed in the Southern District of New York, accusing him participating in a racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists; cocaine importation conspiracy; and using and carrying firearms, machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of drug traffickin...