US President Trump Announces Operation Against Tren de Aragua’s Top Leader
Poinews.com – Donald Trump shared on Truth Social that U.S. forces executed a mission to remove the gang’s leader, Hector Guerrero Flores, also known as Niño Guerrero. The operation, led by the Southern Command, was described as a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” aimed at dismantling the Tren de Aragua criminal network, which Trump labeled as a “notorious terrorist organization” responsible for global violence.
A short, unclassified video of the attack was included in the post, showing a building with a green roof in flames. According to Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Secretary of War, the strike targeted a compound in Venezuela earlier this week. The operation was conducted in close coordination with local security forces, he noted.
Gang Background and Activities
The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) outlines Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal network rooted in Venezuela’s Tocorón Prison. With an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 members, the group engages in kidnappings, extortion, human and drug trafficking, and acts of public violence. It was officially designated a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025.
Guerrero Flores was charged in December 2025 with planning terrorist attacks and violent incidents in the U.S. The State Department had previously offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. At the time of his indictment, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton called him the “architect” behind the gang’s growth.
“Flores operated Tren de Aragua like a multinational crime syndicate—laundering money through cryptocurrency, trafficking drugs by the ton, selling weapons of war, and orchestrating acts of terror across borders,” DEA special agent Louis D’Ambrosio stated in a press release.
