June 12 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Friday said U.S. forces carried out a strike that killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as Niño Guerrero, the leader of Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.
“At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Nino Guerrero the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday evening.
“This action was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well.”
Trump did not specify when the strike took place.
Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has repeatedly targeted Guerrero and other leaders of the Tren de Aragua organization with sanctions over alleged involvement in criminal activities such as illicit drug smuggling, human trafficking and money laundering.
The State Department has designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization.
Trump has claimed Tren de Aragua coordinated its U.S. activities with the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro. The Trump administration has cited the alleged connection to justify deporting some immigrants in the U.S. to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
The White House, Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Christian Martinez and Jasper Ward; Editing by Sergio Non and Kim Coghill)
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