U.S Military Kills Notorious Venezuelan Gang Leader Nino Guerrero in Joint Strike

June 13, () — The United States military has killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, better known as Niño Guerrero, the feared Venezuelan gang leader accused of building one of Latin America’s most dangerous transnational criminal organisations, following a coordinated military strike jointly carried out by American forces and Venezuelan security authorities.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the development late Friday, revealing that the operation was executed under his direct order by the United States Southern Command, targeting Guerrero Flores at a gang compound inside Venezuela.

In a statement posted on Truth Social. Trump described the mission as a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” that successfully eliminated the fugitive gang leader, long regarded by U.S. authorities as one of the hemisphere’s most dangerous organised crime figures.

“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,” Trump wrote.

The American president further declared that criminal organisations such as Tren de Aragua would no longer find a haven anywhere in the world.

“Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have a 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,” he added.

Confirming the development, Venezuela’s Ministry of Communications said Guerrero Flores was killed during a joint security operation involving U.S. military forces and Venezuelan security agencies targeting organised criminal groups operating in Bolívar State.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also confirmed the strike in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying the operation had been conducted earlier in the week against a known Tren de Aragua compound.

At 43, Guerrero Flores had become one of the most feared criminal figures in Latin America.

According to U.S. federal prosecutors, he transformed Tren de Aragua from a prison-based gang in Venezuela into a sprawling international criminal enterprise with operations stretching across South America, Central America, Mexico, and the United States.

American authorities had placed a $5 million reward on information leading to his arrest.

Late last year, prosecutors in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York indicted him on multiple charges including racketeering, terrorism-related conspiracy, cocaine trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, violent crime, and material support for terrorist organisations.

Investigators say under Guerrero’s leadership, Tren de Aragua established itself as one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in the Americas, accused of trafficking narcotics and migrants, extorting communities, kidnapping victims, and carrying out violent operations across multiple countries.

Authorities say Guerrero Flores ran much of the gang’s operations while incarcerated at Venezuela’s infamous Tocorón Prison, where he allegedly enjoyed extraordinary privileges rarely seen inside a correctional facility.

Earlier reports indicated that Guerrero effectively controlled the prison while living in luxury conditions that included private bodyguards, a swimming pool, a nightclub, and even a small zoo.

He first escaped prison in 2012 but was rearrested in 2013. After receiving a 17-year sentence in 2018, he escaped again in 2023 and has remained a fugitive ever since.

U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Venezuela’s previous government allowed Guerrero to effectively manage day-to-day prison operations while continuing to oversee criminal activities outside prison walls.

The joint military operation comes barely five months after U.S. forces carried out a dramatic nighttime raid that removed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power. Maduro was later flown to New York where U.S. prosecutors accused him of participating in a scheme to import cocaine into the United States through alleged partnerships with organised criminal groups, including Tren de Aragua.

Guerrero Flores was also named as a co-conspirator in the same federal indictment, while Maduro has denied the charges.

Earlier this year, Washington officially designated Tren de Aragua and several regional gangs as foreign terrorist organisations, expanding the legal framework for military action against cartel operations abroad.