United States President Donald Trump has disclosed the death of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, widely known as Niño Guerrero, the leader of the Venezuelan criminal organisation Tren de Aragua, following what he described as a US military operation carried out in coordination with Venezuelan authorities.

Trump disclosed the development in a post on Truth Social on Friday, saying Guerrero was killed in a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” authorised by his administration. The post was accompanied by a video showing a building engulfed in smoke after a powerful explosion.

“This action was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well,” Trump said.

Guerrero was regarded as the founder and leader of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang that evolved into a transnational criminal network with operations stretching across Latin America, the United States and parts of Europe. The organisation has been linked to drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, contract killings and other organised crimes. The United States previously designated the group a foreign terrorist organisation and placed a reward of up to $5 million on Guerrero.

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Venezuelan authorities also confirmed the operation, describing it as a joint mission against criminal groups.

In a statement, the country’s communications ministry said: “There were clashes with members of these criminal structures, in which Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias ‘Nino Guerrero’, was neutralized.”

The operation comes months after the Trump administration intensified its crackdown on Tren de Aragua and other transnational criminal organisations. US authorities had previously charged Guerrero with racketeering conspiracy and terrorism-related offences, alleging he played a central role in criminal activities that spanned more than a decade.

Trump vowed that members of the group would continue to face pursuit by US authorities, declaring that “Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else.”

The killing of Guerrero is being viewed as a major blow to one of the most notorious criminal organisations operating in the Americas.

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