Tren de Aragua’s Merciless Kingpin Is Finally Dead, but There’s More Work to Do

There’s something to be said about true progress in a mission. Knowing that you’ve made enough accomplishments that a dent has been left, but there’s still work to be done. Still, I find more than enough reason to celebrate with the death of a much-feared leader of the Tren de Aragua gang.

If that name sounds familiar, it’s because many members of this Venezuelan criminal organization have made their way into the United States to “set up shop,” so to speak, all because former President Joe Biden made his border laws so weak that literally anyone could walk into our country. As a result, criminal acts have been on the rise — at least, until a certain point.

That point came in January 2025, when President Donald Trump returned to the White House and immediately put border czar Tom Homan and thousands of ICE agents to work, capturing dangerous illegal immigrants and sending them packing back to their home countries. As part of this mission, they also interrupted hundreds of Tren de Aragua operations — but now a huge task has hit the group harder than ever expected.

According to this report from Fox News, the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM for short) “delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike” that resulted in the death of Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as Nino Guerrero. He was the “infamous” leader of the Venezuelan gang, putting thousands of thugs under his employ to carry out acts of assault, robbery and even murder.

“Early in my Administration, I delivered on my promise to designate Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, deport thousands of evil criminals, and wage war against the Cartels, who have long been waging war against our Citizens, while weak leaders left America helpless and defensive,” Trump noted on Truth Social following the strike.

The attack on Guerrero “was coordinated closely with our friends in Venezuela, with whom we are working very well. As a result, Tren de Aragua terrorists no long [sic] have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else and, under my leadership, we will find these vicious murderers and drug lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong.”

Well said. Guerrero had let his wave of crime wash over the United States for far too long, while ol’ Joe insisted that everything was fine and Republicans were evil for even suggesting that his relaxed border laws were part of the problem. Clearly, Trump has shown us what happens when you knuckle under — as Homan and ICE have done alongside him — and simply get the job done.

His reach started in the corrupt Tocoron Prison in Aragua State of Venezuela, before reaching the likes of gold mines in Bolivia State, drug corridors on the Caribbean coast, and clandestine border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia.

There’s been a lot done with this blow to the group. But the work still needs to be done. There are still thousands under the banner of Tren de Aragua that need to be taken into custody and sent somewhere far away from where they can do harm to innocent people. Luckily, we have the strength of our own law enforcement here in the United States to help out, along with our hard-working Border Patrol agents and ICE agents – both of whom just received a fresh bit of funding ($70 billion!) to continue onward.

Homan made it clear in a statement what happens next. “You’re going to see targeting increase; you’re going to see arrests increase. With additional funding, we’re going to keep our foot on the gas and keep moving forward.”

Indeed. The head has officially been cut free from Tren de Aragua. Now it’s just a matter of making sure the rest of the body eventually dies with it, where it can’t hurt our American citizens any longer.

Justice has been a long time coming, but leave it to Trump to guide it in the proper direction and be gone with these thugs once and for all. I fully support our law enforcement and government on this mission to wipe them off the face of the map.