President Donald Trump announced Friday that a U.S. military strike has killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, identified as the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang, a transnational criminal organization that has been designated a terrorist group by the United States. The operation represents a significant escalation in the administration’s campaign against narcotics trafficking and organized crime in Latin America.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed through social media that the strike took place earlier this week at a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela. According to Hegseth, the operation demonstrates a shared commitment between the United States and Venezuela to combat narco-terrorism and eliminate safe havens for criminal organizations throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Guerrero Flores, known by the alias “Niño Guerrero,” had been charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and multiple other crimes, including providing support to terrorists. The charges outlined criminal activities spanning more than a decade, according to authorities who announced the indictment in December. The U.S. State Department had offered rewards of up to five million dollars for information leading to his arrest, underscoring the priority his capture represented for American law enforcement.

Trump released a statement through his social media platform declaring that Tren de Aragua members no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or elsewhere. The post included unclassified video footage filmed from above showing a small building with a green roof being destroyed in an explosion. “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,” Trump wrote.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, who Trump nominated Thursday to serve as director of national intelligence, had previously characterized the gang as responsible for widespread violence, extortion, and drug trafficking across North America, South America, and Europe.

The targeted killing is part of a broader pattern of aggressive military action authorized by the Trump administration. Since early September, at least 207 people have been killed in boat strikes conducted by U.S. military forces in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The administration has justified these operations as necessary measures against individuals it labels as “narcoterrorists” involved in smuggling drugs into American territory.

Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago within a notoriously chaotic prison in Venezuela’s central Aragua state. The facility housed hardened criminals and operated with minimal government oversight. As millions of Venezuelans fled their homeland in recent years seeking better economic conditions, the gang expanded its operations throughout Latin American countries and into the United States.

Guerrero Flores himself was imprisoned in the Aragua facility in 2013 on murder and other convictions, coinciding with the beginning of Venezuela’s severe economic crisis. As corruption, government mismanagement, and declining crude oil prices devastated the oil-dependent economy, Venezuelan authorities increasingly neglected the prison system. Guerrero Flores and other inmates recognized this as an opportunity for profit and power.

They seized control of the prison, establishing a system that governed the entire inmate population through violence and extortion. Over time, the facility was transformed into an elaborate complex featuring a zoo, baseball field, casino, and restaurants. Guerrero Flores reportedly maintained a lavish personal suite within the compound.

The precise size and scope of Tren de Aragua remains unclear. Countries hosting large Venezuelan migrant populations, particularly Peru and Colombia, have blamed the organization for violent crime waves in their territories. However, according to InSight Crime, a research organization that monitors criminal activity throughout Latin America, Tren de Aragua differs from other major criminal enterprises originating in Colombia, Central America, and Brazil in that it lacks significant involvement in large-scale international cocaine smuggling operations. Within Venezuela, gang leaders have been documented participating in various illegal activities, including unauthorized gold mining operations.

Trump has consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for contributing to violence and illegal drug distribution in American cities, making the gang a focal point of his immigration and crime enforcement rhetoric. Throughout his campaign for a second presidential term, Trump emphasized promises to implement strict immigration controls and aggressive law enforcement measures. While recent polling indicates declining favorability ratings regarding his economic policies, data from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows immigration remains Trump’s strongest political issue among voters.

The Venezuelan government’s communications ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the military operation on Venezuelan territory.