President Donald Trump announced on Friday that a “swift and lethal kinetic” U.S. Military strike killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang. According to Trump, the operation was directed by the United States Southern Command and successfully neutralized the individual, whom he referred to by the alias “Niño Guerrero.” The strike occurred earlier in the week at a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela. While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated the operation underscored a shared commitment between the U.S. And Venezuela to target narco-terrorists, ABC News reported that Trump characterized the action as being coordinated closely with “our friends in Venezuela.” Venezuela’s ministry of communications confirmed the death during a “joint operation,” stating there were clashes with members of the criminal structure. Tren de Aragua has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States. Guerrero Flores had previously been charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes involving support for terrorists over more than a decade. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, whom Trump nominated as director of national intelligence on Thursday, stated the gang is responsible for acts of 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 Guerrero Flores’s arrest. The Trump administration has taken several actions against the gang, including strikes on boats accused of smuggling drugs. Since early September, at least 207 people have been killed in such strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Trump has consistently blamed the gang for violence and illicit drug dealing in U.S. Cities, a claim that was contradicted by a declassified U.S. Intelligence assessment regarding the gang’s relationship with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.