Trump orders lethal raid that kills Tren de Aragua boss Niño Guerrero in Venezuela

The operation

A U.S. missile strike, carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command with CIA intelligence support and in coordination with Venezuelan security forces, killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Niño Guerrero, this week in the southeastern state of Bolívar. The Pentagon said the raid was conducted "in full collaboration with Venezuelan security forces." A 10-second video posted by Trump shows an aerial view of a building with a green roof surrounded by vegetation, followed by an explosion and a dense cloud of smoke.

“On my order, the U.S. Southern Command launched a rapid and lethal attack to eliminate Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of the Tren de Aragua, one of the bloodiest terrorist organizations on the planet.”

Trump's announcement

In a late-night post on Truth Social, Trump framed the operation as a fulfillment of a campaign promise. He accused former President Biden of having "thrown open our southern border to millions of illegal criminals," allowing a "foreign army to rape, mutilate and murder American citizens with total impunity." He named two victims, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray and 22-year-old Laken Riley, and said the armed forces had "avenged them." The post also declared that "Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have a safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else."

Venezuelan confirmation

The Venezuelan communication ministry confirmed the operation, stating that "clashes with members of this criminal structure occurred during which Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Nino Guerrero, was neutralized." The government of interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who took over after the January capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. special forces, said the raid relied on specialized technological support and intelligence sharing between Washington and Caracas.

Pentagon and CIA roles

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the strike part of the joint commitment of the U.S. and Venezuela "to fight narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere." General Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, noted that Guerrero had been indicted by the Justice Department "for ordering, directing and facilitating acts of terrorism and violence in the United States." A source familiar with the operation told The Washington Post that the CIA provided the intelligence that made the raid possible.

Who was Niño Guerrero?

Guerrero, 42, was born in Maracay, Aragua state, and rose to power from inside the Tocorón prison, which he turned into an operational hub for the gang. Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration designated a foreign terrorist organization, is active in Colombia, Peru and Chile. A New York federal court indicted Guerrero in 2025 on terrorism and violence charges, and he had been a fugitive since then.