The Daily Journal — The Venezuelan government confirmed on Friday that Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero” and leader of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization, died during a security operation in southeastern Bolívar state. Venezuelan security forces and U.S. agencies carried out the armed operation jointly.
The Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information released the official statement after U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the military operation.
According to the institutional document dated June 12 in Caracas, tactical units concentrated their deployment in the country’s southeastern region to dismantle organized crime logistics networks. Within that area, the units intercepted members of the criminal organization, triggering a firefight.
“During the operation, our forces engaged members of these criminal structures in armed confrontations. In those clashes, Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias ‘Niño Guerrero,’ leader of a criminal organization, was neutralized,” the statement said.
The report from the Ministry of Communication and Information emphasizes that authorities dismantled these criminal cells and located the international fugitive—who had remained on the run since the military intervention at Tocorón Prison in September 2023—through direct strategic intelligence coordination between both countries.
“The operation received specialized technological support and relied on cooperation mechanisms and intelligence-sharing efforts between the authorities of both countries,” the document stated.
Who Was “Niño Guerrero”?
Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” founded and led the Tren de Aragua, one of the largest transnational criminal organizations to emerge from Venezuela.
He began his criminal activities in the 2000s and, after entering Tocorón Prison in Aragua state, rose to become the prison’s dominant leader. From there, he consolidated the gang’s expansion.
Under his leadership, the Tren de Aragua expanded its operations across several Latin American countries, engaging in crimes such as extortion, kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling.
Guerrero had remained a fugitive since September 2023, when he escaped during the Venezuelan authorities’ intervention at Tocorón Prison. Since then, authorities had ranked him among the region’s most wanted criminals, and international arrest warrants targeted him.
