US says it killed Tren de Aragua's leader in a strike in Venezuela
President Trump announced on Friday that a US military strike killed Héctor Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” who had run the transnational gang Tren de Aragua for more than a decade. He was struck at a compound in Venezuela’s Bolívar state.
Venezuela’s communications ministry described the strike as a “combined operation” between US forces and Venezuelan security services, carried out with CIA-provided intelligence — an unusual acknowledgment of cooperation given the strained relationship between Caracas and Washington. Guerrero was indicted in a New York federal court last year on racketeering and narco-terrorism charges.
The operation fits Trump’s pattern of using military force, rather than law enforcement, against drug-trafficking and gang networks. The reported coordination suggests a working channel between US and Venezuelan security services that runs counter to the public friction between the two governments.