- US President Donald Trump announced the death of Tren de Aragua leader Nino Guerrero in a US strike
- The strike was a joint operation with Venezuelan security forces sharing intelligence and support
- Pete Hegseth confirmed the operation happened earlier this week with Venezuelan cooperation
US President Donald Trump said that the "infamous leader" of Tren de Aragua - a cartel and US-designated terrorist organisation - has been killed in a "swift and lethal kinetic" US strike.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as Nino Guerrero, was "successfully" executed.
Trump wrote, "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 drug lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong."
The Republican leader also shared a video of an aerial strike that showed a green-roofed building being blown to smithereens.
Trump said the strike was "coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well".
Later, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed on X that the operation was conducted earlier this week jointly with the Venezuelan security forces.
The Venezuelan government said that they shared intelligence and specialised technical support in the joint operation.
"During the operation, clashes occurred with members of these criminal structures, resulting in the death of Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias "Nino Guerrero," the leader of a criminal organization," the communications ministry said in a statement.
The US Southern Command in a post on X stated that the joint operation took place against a "Tren de Aragua compound".
About Tren de Aragua And Its Gang Leader
Guerrero was charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including lending support to terrorists in crimes that stretched more than a decade, authorities announced in December.
Trump has taken a series of extraordinary actions against the gang, including a series of strikes on small boats his administration has accused of smuggling drugs to America.
At least 207 people have been killed in boat strikes by the US military in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls "narcoterrorists" in early September.
Trump and administration officials have consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some US cities.
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