Gang Leader Behind The Death Of Laken Riley Killed In U.S. Military Airstrike
on Jun 15, 2026
On June 12, just over six months after the United States apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military “successfully execute[d]” Niño Guerrero, the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Nino Guerrero, whose real name was Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, was killed in an airstrike earlier that week by U.S. Southern Command.
The killing of Guerrero was cited by Trump as the fulfillment of a campaign promise made to the American families who lost loved ones to illegal migrants affiliated with Tren de Aragua.
Among those victims, Trump listed in his announcement “the precious 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray,” who was killed in 2024 by two illegal migrants from Venezuela; and 22-year-old Laken Riley, whose death in 2024 led to the establishing of the Laken Riley Act, which allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for not enforcing immigration laws.
Adding that there were “countless other beautiful souls” lost to the gang’s violence, Trump said, “With this action, the United States Military has brought retribution for them, their families, and their loved ones.”
Watch The Video Of The Airstrike Eliminating The Tren De Aragua Leader
When Trump was sworn in as the 47th president on Jan. 20, 2025, one of his first executive orders instituted a process for designating cartels as terrorist organizations.
The high-profile gang Tren de Aragua, which has its origins in Venezuela, was designated a transnational terrorist organization months later, with sanctions placed on nations receiving Venezuelan oil.
Since September of 2025, there have been significant airstrikes conducted by the United States against alleged narcoterrorists transporting drugs in boats to the United States.
On Oct. 2, 2025, the Pentagon announced in a memo sent to members of Congress that the United States was officially in an armed conflict with the cartels.
In the week of June 12, days before a peace deal was made on the other side of the world between the United States and Iran, the U.S. eliminated Niño Guerrero in an airstrike.
This was accomplished by the U.S. Southern Command in collaboration with Venezuelan security forces, USSOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
In Sec. of War Pete Hegseth’s announcement of the Department of War eliminating Guerrero, he wrote on X, “The operation underscores the shared U.S. and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere.”
Trump’s announcement on Truth Social that Guerrero had been executed began with him comparing his immigration policy to that of his predecessor, President Joe Biden, saying, that the 46th president “opened our Southern Border to millions of Illegal Criminals, and allowed this foreign army to rape, maim, and murder American Citizens with total impunity.”
Concluding his announcement, Trump wrote, “Under my leadership, we will find these vicious murderers and drugs lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong.”
While Guerrero is now dead, the U.S. Department of Justice has a $4 million reward for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of Johan Petrica, another leader of Tren de Aragua.
Here’s the footage of the airstrike that eliminated Tren de Aragua’s leader, Niño Guerrero:
FROM @POTUS — At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth. Before I returned to… pic.twitter.com/2dXhF5IWoH
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) June 13, 2026
