WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that a "swift and lethal kinetic" U.S.strike has killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, whom he called "the infamous leader" of the Tren de Aragua gang.Tren de Aragua has been labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization.
Guerrero Flores was charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including lending support to terrorists in crimes that stretched more than a decade, authorities announced in December.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the strike occurred earlier in the week on a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela.U.S.Attorney Jay Clayton said at the time that the gang is responsible for countless acts of violence, extortion and drug trafficking in North America, South America and Europe.
Trump nominated Clayton on Thursday to be director of national intelligence.The U.S.State Department had offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to Guerrero Flores' arrestIn a post on his social media site, Trump wrote, "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 drug lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong." Trump's post referred to Guerrero Flores by his alias, "Niño Guerrero."The post also included unclassified video, shot from above, of a small building with a green roof exploding.Hegseth said, "The operation underscores the shared U.S.
and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere."Venezuela's ministry of communications did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the operation.Trump has taken a series of extraordinary actions against the gang, including a series of strikes on small boats his administration has accused of smuggling drugs to America.At least 207 people have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S.
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