President Donald Trump announced that the head of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Nino Guerrero, was killed in a U.S. airstrike, in coordination with the Venezuelan government.
“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, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Attached to the post was a declassified video of the strike, showing a building with a green roof being destroyed in a large explosion. Trump said the operation was carried out with Caracas’s help.
“This action was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well. As a result, Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else and, under my leadership, we will find these vicious murderers and drugs lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” he said.
Trump also paid tribute to Jocelyn Nungaray and Laken Riley, two women murdered by Tren de Aragua members, in the post.
“Before I returned to office, Joe Biden opened our Southern Border to millions of Illegal Criminals, and allowed this foreign army to rape, maim, and murder American Citizens with total impunity,” he said. “During my Campaign, I pledged to expel these monsters from our Country, and bring Justice to the families of those they slaughtered, including the precious 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, 22-year-old Laken Reilly, and countless other beautiful souls. With this action, the United States Military has brought retribution for them, their families, and their loved ones.”
Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign highlighted Riley and Nungaray as two of the victims of illegal immigrant crime. While the Salvadoran gang MS-13 featured prominently during Trump’s first administration, TdA came to take on the role in his second, given its growing prominence as a result of the deteriorating situation in Venezuela.
Despite the public prominence of TdA, Guerrero remained an elusive figure. He rose to the top of Venezuela’s underworld while incarcerated, beginning and running his gang from heavily overcrowded and corrupt prisons.
Not much was publicly known about his whereabouts following his second escape from prison in September 2023. The Trump administration had tracked down and sanctioned his network, including the famous Venezuelan model, influencer, and DJ Jimena Romina Araya Navarro, also known as Rosita, who was believed to be his mistress.
Under Guerrero’s rule, TdA established itself as one of the most prolific and deadly drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere, using the Venezuelan migrant crisis to extend its reach across Latin America and North America. The Trump administration designated it a foreign terrorist organization last year.
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Among TdA’s crimes are drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion, sexual exploitation of women and children, money laundering, and murder-for-hire.
Guerrero was named as a co-defendant in the indictment of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, who is accused of cooperating with the group.
