Who was Niño Guerrero? The alleged drug kingpin the US killed in Venezuela

Key Points:

• Former US President Donald Trump announced a joint US-Venezuelan operation that killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, aka "Niño Guerrero," the top leader of the criminal gang Tren de Aragua, designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US.
• Guerrero Flores, born in Maracay, Venezuela, had a long criminal history including murder, prison escape, and drug trafficking, and led Tren de Aragua's expansion from prison control to a transnational criminal network across Latin America and beyond.
• Tren de Aragua operates in multiple countries including Colombia, Brazil, Spain, and the US, with several arrests of its members internationally; the US designated the gang as a foreign terrorist organization under Trump’s second term, leading to deportations and military actions targeting related drug trafficking.
• The joint operation was confirmed by Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who stated it occurred in Bolívar state with intelligence and technical support exchanged between the US and Venezuela.
• Despite the high-profile killing, Guerrero Flores remained relatively unknown in the US, with limited official information available prior to the announcement; the US had offered a $5 million reward for his capture and charged him with terrorism-related offenses in 2025.