US CIA helps locate Venezuelan drug gang leader “Niño Guerrero”

A senior U.S. government official said the Central Intelligence Agency supplied the key intelligence that enabled Venezuelan forces to locate and neutralize Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” the alleged head of the criminal group Tren de Aragua. The operation took place in Bolívar state, in southern Venezuela, an area associated with illegal mining and armed groups. The United States has long designated Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization, offering a $5 million reward for information on its leaders and charging Guerrero in a Manhattan federal court with terrorism, drug trafficking and firearms offenses. Analysts noted the raid reflects an expanded U.S. strategy to combat cartels in the region under the Trump administration.