Tren de Aragua gang leader killed in US military strike, Trump says
President Donald Trump announced that a U.S. military strike killed Hector Guerrero, the leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang. The strike was described as a swift, lethal action coordinated with Venezuelan authorities in response to alleged attacks on American citizens. The move follows a broader Trump administration policy of using military force against transnational drug and crime networks, which has attracted legal and human‑rights criticism.
- ▪President Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. Southern Command carried out a kinetic strike that killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero, the head of Tren de Aragua.
- ▪The president said the operation was coordinated with Venezuelan officials and framed it as retribution for the deaths of U.S. citizens attributed to the gang.
- ▪Guerrero had been indicted in New York on charges of directing terrorism, violence, and drug trafficking, and the State Department had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
- ▪The Trump administration has increasingly employed military strikes against drug cartels, a strategy that has been criticized by lawmakers and human‑rights groups as potentially extrajudicial.
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ABC NewsLiveVideoShowsGood Morning AmericaShopGMAInterest Successfully AddedWe'll notify you here with news aboutTurn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? OffOnStream onTren de Aragua gang leader killed in US military strike, Trump saysTrump said the U.S. military "delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike."ByMichelle StoddartJune 12, 2026, 10:23 PM3:30This screen grab from a video posted by US President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account on June 12, 2026, shows what President Trump says is a deadly strike on the leader of Tren de Aragua. Photo by US President Donald Trump's TRUTH Social account / AFP via Getty ImagesThe leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has been killed in a U.S.
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