Venezuela confirms death of Tren de Aragua leader in operation with US

The Venezuelan government confirmed US President Donald Trump's announcement that Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of the Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua criminal organization, was killed in an operation conducted by Venezuelan and US authorities.

Venezuela's Ministry of Communication and Information said Guerrero Flores, widely known by the alias "Nino Guerrero," was neutralized in a rural area of Bolivar state during an operation targeting the criminal group.

Authorities said clashes occurred with gang members and that the mission was carried out with advanced technological support, intelligence sharing and cooperation mechanisms between the two countries.

Trump announced earlier that Flores was killed in an operation conducted with the support of Venezuelan authorities.

-TREN DE ARAGUA, GUERRERO FLORES

Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization that has expanded across several Latin American countries in recent years, has been linked to human trafficking, drug trafficking, extortion and murder.

The US designated the group a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2025.

Guerrero Flores was indicted by a federal court in New York last December on charges including racketeering and providing material support for terrorism.

According to media reports, Guerrero Flores was born in 1983 in the city of Maracay in Venezuela's Aragua state. He first appeared in police records in the early 2000s and was accused in 2005 of killing a police officer.

Arrested in 2010 on charges, including murder, drug trafficking and extortion, Guerrero Flores escaped from prison in 2012.

He was recaptured the following year and transferred to the Tocoron Prison, where he expanded his influence rather than losing it, eventually becoming a "pran," a term used in Venezuela to describe powerful prison gang leaders.

US prosecutors allege that Guerrero Flores directed a criminal network for more than a decade across Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil and Panama. Under his leadership, Tren de Aragua evolved into one of the most notorious transnational criminal organizations in Latin America.