President Donald Trump announced that US forces have killed an “infamous leader” of Tren De Aragua, a Venezuelan gang designated by the US regime as a global terrorist organization and drug-smuggling cartel.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US Southern Command “delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike” to kill Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as Niño Guerrero. He added the operation was in collaboration with Venezuela.

Venezuela’s government confirmed its participation in the operation in Bolivar state, stating Flores was killed during “clashes with members of criminal groups.” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike occurred earlier in the week.

Tren De Aragua originated from a notorious prison in Aragua state, controlling a vast drug trafficking network. The group has some 7,000 members across South America and the US. It was labeled a terrorist organization by the US regime in February 2025.

Flores, 42, escaped from Tocoron prison in 2023 before a police raid. He was charged in absentia in a New York court. The US regime has conducted strikes on small boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, killing at least 207 people, though families claim the victims were fishermen. Legal scholars and rights groups have called the strikes extrajudicial killings.

Source: www.aljazeera.com