U.S. military strike kills alleged Tren de Aragua leader, Trump says

President Donald Trump said on Friday that a U.S. "swift and lethal kinetic" strike in Venezuela killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, whom he described as the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang. The group has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, and Flores faced racketeering and other charges in a New York federal court.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the operation took place earlier in the week at a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela. He added that the strike demonstrated "the shared U.S. and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere."

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, recently nominated by Trump for director of national intelligence, said the gang is responsible for extensive violence, extortion and drug trafficking across North America, South America and Europe. The State Department had previously offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to Flores' arrest.

Venezuela’s ministry of communications did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The announcement follows a series of U.S. actions targeting the gang, including strikes on small boats accused of smuggling drugs, which have resulted in more than 200 deaths since the policy began in September.