Trump says U.S. kills Tren de Aragua leader

President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. military killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the alleged leader of the Venezuela-based gang Tren de Aragua, in a strike coordinated with the Venezuelan government.

“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, using Guerrero Flores’ alias.

Trump said the action was “coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well.” His post included video that appeared to show a projectile hitting a building, which erupted in flames. The BBC described the footage as showing a green building with a nearby shed being blown up.

The Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request to confirm Trump’s announcement of Guerrero Flores’ death.

Tren de Aragua, originally a Venezuelan prison gang, has become a central target of Trump’s immigration and law enforcement agenda since he returned to office in 2025. The State Department designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025. Trump has accused the gang of engaging in “irregular warfare” against the United States and has placed it at the center of his deportation campaign.

“During my Campaign, I pledged to expel these monsters from our Country, and bring Justice to the families of those they slaughtered,” Trump wrote. “With this action, the United States Military has brought retribution for them, their families, and their loved ones.”

In another part of the post, 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 drugs lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong.”

Guerrero Flores, 43, was indicted late last year in New York federal court on charges including racketeering, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and cocaine conspiracy. The State Department had offered up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest.

Federal prosecutors said Guerrero Flores, also known as “The Unspeakable” or “The Big Eyebrow,” ran Tren de Aragua for more than a decade and helped turn it from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational criminal organization with a presence throughout the Americas, including in the United States. The indictment accused him of leading an enterprise that trafficked drugs and people, extorted local populations and carried out acts of violence.

Prosecutors alleged Guerrero Flores initially operated the gang from Tocorón Prison, directing members outside the prison and collecting a fee from their activities. CBS News, citing BBC News, reported that Guerrero Flores escaped prison in 2012, was rearrested a year later, was sentenced to 17 years in 2018 and escaped again in 2023. The indictment alleged the Venezuelan government allowed him to “control the day-to-day operations of the prison.”

The Trump administration has claimed Tren de Aragua “invaded” the United States and is responsible for violence and illicit drugs in U.S. cities, a characterization that The Guardian reported has drawn criticism from some in the Venezuelan diaspora. The Guardian also reported that Trump repeatedly claimed the gang operated under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s control, a claim contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment.

Trump’s announcement also attacked former President Joe Biden’s border policies and referred to Jocelyn Nungaray and Laken Reilly, two Americans killed in separate attacks by undocumented immigrants whose cases became a political focus for conservatives.