DOJ charges illegal immigrant with Tren de Aragua ties after Border Patrol shooting in Portland

The alleged Venezuelan illegal immigrant, suspected of being an associate of the Tren de Aragua gang, who was shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Portland, Oregon while allegedly trying to ram them with a vehicle was charged Monday by the Justice Department. 

Luis Nino Moncada is charged with aggravated assault of a federal officer with a deadly weapon, according to an unsealed federal complaint. 

"Anyone who crosses the red line of assaulting law enforcement will be met with the full force of this Justice Department," Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X. "According to a newly unsealed complaint, Luis Nino-Moncada - an illegal alien in Portland, Oregon with ties to Tren de Aragua - is alleged to have repeatedly rammed a Border Patrol vehicle, threatening the lives of federal law enforcement officers."

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"He should NEVER have been in our country to begin with, and we will ensure he NEVER walks free in America again," she added. 

Federal prosecutors allege that Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, both suspected TdA gang associates, were in a Toyota Tacoma on Jan. 8 when USBP agents tried to conduct a traffic stop.

The agents were targeting Zambrano-Contreras for arrest. 

Moncada, who was driving the vehicle, entered the United States illegally in 2022, and was released into the country by the Biden administration. He has a previous arrest for driving under the influence and unauthorized use of a vehicle, authorities said, and was the subject of a final order of removal.

Zambrano-Contreras, the passenger, also entered the U.S. illegally in the El Paso, Texas, area in 2023. She played an "active role in a Tren de Aragua prostitution ring" and was previously involved in a July 2025 shooting stemming from a bad prostitution deal, authorities said. 

At the time of the traffic stop, federal agents ordered them to exit the vehicle, which they refused, prosecutors said.

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Instead, Moncada put the car in reverse and hit an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle "with enough speed and force to cause significant damage," the complaint states. He then allegedly moved the car forward and reverse multiple times, striking the USBP vehicle several times, prosecutors said. 

Fearing that Moncada would strike the agents, a Border Patrol agent opened fire at Moncada before he drove off and fled the scene, prosecutors allege. He and Zambrano-Contreras were struck by gunfire. 

Moncada allegedly parked the car in an apartment complex and called 911. When responding law enforcement officers arrived and placed a tourniquet on him, he allegedly said f--- ICE."

Both he and Zambrano-Contreras were taken to hospitals with gunshot wounds, authorities said.

During questioning, Moncada allegedly admitted to intentionally ramming his car into the Border Patrol vehicle in an attempt to flee.

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There was no body-worn camera footage from the six Border Patrol agents involved in the incident, the Justice Department said. Efforts to find footage of what happened on social media and through surveillance cameras have been unsuccessful. 

The shooting happened the same week anti-ICE protester Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot in Minneapolis by a federal agent while trying to allegedly ram him with his vehicle. 

The Trump administration has said Good was obstructing immigration enforcement operations and attempted to run over an ICE agent who fired in self-defense. Good was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Oregon officials condemned the shooting in Portland, with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, claiming it was "instigated by the reckless agenda of the Trump administration."

Both shootings have prompted anti-ICE protests across the country and strong condemnations by many leading Democrats.