Trump: "Venezuelan Crime Syndicate Leader Eliminated in Precision Strike"

Nino Guerrero, Leader of Tren de Aragua, Killed

The leader of Venezuela's major criminal organization, Tren de Aragua (TdA), was killed in a U.S. military operation.

Strike aerial photo of Nino Guerrero, the leader of Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua, targeted by the U.S. military, released by U.S. President Donald Trump. Captured from Truth Social

On June 12 (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social, "U.S. Southern Command has successfully killed Nino Guerrero, leader of Tren de Aragua—one of the most brutal terrorist organizations on Earth—through a swift and lethal military strike."

President Trump stated, "Members of Tren de Aragua will no longer have any safe haven anywhere, including Venezuela." He also released aerial footage of the U.S. military strike, showing the explosion.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that Guerrero was killed in an attack on the organization’s stronghold.

Tren de Aragua is a criminal organization that has expanded its influence from Venezuela across Central and South America. It is also known to have infiltrated the United States by utilizing human trafficking and illegal immigration networks.

Guerrero, who was killed in the operation, was the figure who grew Tren de Aragua into a multinational criminal syndicate throughout Central and South America. He had been indicted in the United States on charges including organized crime, terrorism, and drug smuggling. The U.S. government had offered a reward of 5 million dollars (approximately 7.6 billion won) for information leading to his capture.

President Trump has repeatedly criticized criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua for flooding the United States with drugs. Last year, immediately after returning to the White House, he also designated Tren de Aragua as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" (FTO).

President Trump stated that the operation was successful thanks to close cooperation with Venezuela. Local media evaluated this operation as evidence that collaboration between the United States and Venezuela has strengthened since the ousting of the Nicolas Maduro regime.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.