On Friday night, as all eyes were on two major U.S. sporting moments — the men’s national team kicking off its World Cup opener with Paraguay, and the fighters arriving in Washington for this weekend’s UFC fight at the White House — President Donald Trump shared a video of a lethal strike that he said killed Tren de Aragua gang leader Hector “Niño Guerrero” Rusthenford Guerrero Flores.
“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,” the president wrote on Truth Social, sharing a video of an aerial strike that blew a low-lying building to smithereens.
The president did not specify exactly where or when the attack took place.
“This action was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well,” Trump added. “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.”
The Independent has contacted the White House and U.S. Southern Command for further information on the strike.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Los Angeles watching the World Cup match when President Trump announced the strike, according to the Trump administration.
The U.S. had previously charged the gang leader with providing material support to terrorism and directing a criminal enterprise, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which previously named Niño Guerrero to its most wanted list.
American officials had also levied sanctions against the Tren de Aragua leader and his top lieutenants, alleging the gang was tied to drug smuggling, human trafficking, and money laundering.
Last year, after the federal charges were announced, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton described Niño Guerrero as the “mastermind of Tren de Aragua’s evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization,” offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.
