Trump says US strike killed Venezuelan gang leader Niño Guerrero

US President Donald Trump on Friday said US forces carried out a strike that ​killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as Niño Guerrero, the leader ‌of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua. “At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Nino Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one ​of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet, ” Trump said in a post on ​Truth Social on Friday evening. “This action was coordinated closely with our friends ⁠in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well. ” Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth posted on ​X that the strike was conducted earlier this week and that Guerrero “was confirmed killed during ​the strike. ” Venezuela’s information ministry said that during the operation, there were clashes with members of criminal groups, in which the leader, Guerrero, was neutralised. The operation involved specialised technological support and was carried out through cooperation ​and intelligence-sharing between authorities of both countries, the ministry said. The Trump administration has repeatedly ​targeted Guerrero and other leaders of the Tren de Aragua organisation with sanctions over alleged involvement in ‌criminal activities ⁠such as illicit drug smuggling, human trafficking and money laundering. The State Department has designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organisation. Trump has claimed that Tren de Aragua coordinated its US activities with the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro. The Trump administration has cited the alleged ​connection to justify deporting ​some immigrants in ⁠the US to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Tren de Aragua is known for being involved in human trafficking and controls routes taken ​by Venezuelans and other South American migrants heading south to relatively ​prosperous Chile ⁠and other destinations in South America or Europe. The group has also been linked to extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, contract killings, smuggling and organised retail theft from Panama to Brazil and along ⁠the Andean ​corridor, Latin American police officials say. Guerrero escaped from the ​Tocoron prison in Venezuela along with other gang leaders just before a police raid in 2023.

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