U.S. Military Strike Kills Tren de Aragua Gang Leader Hector Guerrero Flores, Trump Announces

President Donald Trump announced late Friday that U.S. Southern Command carried out a 'swift and lethal kinetic' airstrike killing Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, in an operation he said was closely coordinated with the Venezuelan government. Trump posted a declassified aerial surveillance video on Truth Social showing a building with a green roof being destroyed in a large explosion, though he did not specify the exact location or timing of the strike. Guerrero Flores had been indicted in a New York federal court in December on charges of racketeering conspiracy and providing material support to terrorism, with authorities alleging the gang was responsible for violence, extortion, and drug trafficking across North America, South America, and Europe. The Pentagon offered no additional details beyond Trump's social media post. The strike is part of a broader U.S. military campaign against groups the administration labels 'narcoterrorists,' which has included strikes on small boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, killing at least 207 people since September. Tren de Aragua originated in a Venezuelan prison more than a decade ago and expanded as millions of Venezuelans migrated across Latin America and to the United States. Analysts note the gang, while violent, does not have large-scale involvement in international cocaine smuggling unlike other major Latin American criminal organizations.