President Donald Trump announced Friday that U.S. military forces killed the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in what he described as a "swift and lethal kinetic strike" conducted with Venezuelan cooperation.

The target was Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as Niño Guerrero, whom Trump called "the infamous leader" of the organization. Trump said U.S. Southern Command carried out the operation at his direction, though the Pentagon declined to provide additional details beyond the president's social media post.

Tren de Aragua has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. Guerrero Flores was charged in December in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including providing support to terrorists in activities spanning more than a decade. The State Department had offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest.

The gang originated at a prison in Venezuela's Aragua state and has expanded across Latin America as millions of Venezuelans migrated in recent years. U.S. officials have blamed the organization for violence, extortion and drug trafficking across North America, South America and Europe, though analysts note it has less involvement in large-scale cocaine smuggling compared to other criminal groups in the region.

The strike is part of broader Trump administration actions against what it terms "narcoterrorists," including attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling. At least 207 people have been killed in such boat strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea since September, according to official accounts.

In his announcement, Trump wrote that "Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else" and vowed to continue pursuing what he called "vicious murderers and drug lords."