How ‘Niño Guerrero’ built Latin America’s most feared gang from behind bars

CARACAS, June 15 — The Tren de Aragua leader killed in a US-Venezuelan raid was a high-school dropout who lived in comfort behind bars as he transformed a prison gang into one of Latin America’s most powerful and far-reaching criminal organisations.

Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Niño Guerrero, or “child warrior”, died at the age of 42 in a raid announced on Friday by US President Donald Trump and later confirmed by Venezuela.

Founded in Venezuela in 2014, Tren de Aragua has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United States and is believed to be active in eight South American countries, including Colombia, Peru and Chile.

The group is accused of drug trafficking, extortion and other crimes, and Guerrero had a US$5 million bounty on his head.

Guerrero was from the city of Maracay, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Caracas.

After dropping out of high school, he quickly became involved in crime.

By 2010, at the age of 26, he had already been accused of robbery, murder and kidnapping.

He was imprisoned in Tocorón prison in Aragua state – from which the gang derives its name – escaped, and was recaptured two years later before being returned to the facility.

That was when he began building the criminal organisation now known as Tren de Aragua while operating from Tocorón, which he and fellow inmates effectively controlled.

Luis Izquiel, a lawyer and criminology professor at Venezuela’s Central University, described Guerrero as a criminal mastermind.

He said Guerrero’s leadership stood out “not so much for its ferocity, or his inhumanity in committing crime, but rather because he was a person with a criminal mind who managed to expand the tentacles of the Tren de Aragua and strengthen them”.

Pool, zoo and nightclub

Guerrero established his operational base inside Tocorón prison and became what is known in Venezuelan criminal circles as a “pran” – a Spanish acronym that translates as “serious heavyweight and natural-born killer”, according to Izquiel.

He lived in a two-storey house within the prison compound, receiving visitors and enjoying amenities that included a swimming pool, baseball field, restaurants and even a zoo, according to Ronna Risquez, author of Tren de Aragua: The Gang That Revolutionized Organized Crime in Latin America.

Guerrero was effectively the boss both inside and outside the prison, with access to weapons and cash.

He was accused of orchestrating brutal killings in countries including Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Guerrero escaped from Tocorón in 2023 as the Venezuelan government moved to retake control of gang-run prisons and crack down on “pran” figures such as him.

In 2025, Guerrero and 69 other alleged Tren de Aragua members were indicted in the United States on charges including terrorism and other violent crimes.

His whereabouts remained unknown until Friday, when Trump announced on social media that Guerrero had been killed in a raid in southeastern Bolívar state.

Trump’s post included a 10-second video showing an aerial view of a building surrounded by greenery before an explosion sent a cloud of smoke into the air.

No people were clearly visible in the footage.

Izquiel said Guerrero’s death was good news for countries where Tren de Aragua operates because the group’s structure makes it difficult to find an immediate replacement with similar authority.

“It is a severe blow,” Izquiel said. — AFP