President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had targeted and killed the leader of Venezuela’s infamous Tren de Aragua gang in a covert airstrike.
He posted what looks like footage of a green‑painted building and a nearby shed exploding, calling the operation a “swift and lethal kinetic strike” at his direction.
The kidnapped‑to‑escaped, then‑detained gangster Héctor “Niño” Guerrero had turned Tren de Aragua into a sprawling criminal empire that now spreads across Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, engaging in drug trafficking, kidnapping and even running a smuggler‑friendly prison.
Venezuelan officials confirmed a “joint operation” with U.S. forces, while Trump stressed close coordination with local authorities. The strike, part of a broader U.S. effort to curb drug routes, follows a last‑year raid on Nicolás Maduro’s compound and ongoing discussions about legal limits of such military actions.
The move underscores how the U.S. is extending its drug‑wars strategy beyond domestic borders, even as critics question whether strikes on overseas boats may violate international law. The Trump administration maintains the shooting is lawful, declaring the U.S. in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels and labeling boat crews as combatants.
