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Alleged Tren de Aragua associate charged after Border Patrol shooting in Oregon

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An alleged Venezuelan illegal immigrant who was suspected of being an associate of the Tren de Aragua gang and was shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Portland, Oregon, as he allegedly tried to hit them with a vehicle was indicted by the Department of Justice on Monday.

Luis Nino Moncada is accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a federal officer, according to an undisclosed federal complaint.

“Anyone who crosses the red line of attacking law enforcement will be met with the full force of the Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to X. “Luis Nino-Moncada, an illegal alien with ties to Tren de Aragua in Portland, Oregon, allegedly repeatedly crashed into a Border Patrol vehicle, threatening the lives of federal law enforcement officers, according to a newly unsealed complaint.”

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DHS officials say Luis David Nico Moncada, left, and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras are criminal illegal aliens from Venezuela and suspected members of the foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua. The two were injured on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after being shot by a Border Patrol agent as they allegedly tried to run over the officer and others with their vehicle. (Department of Homeland Security)

“He should NEVER have been in our country in the first place, and we will make sure he NEVER walks free in America again,” he 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 attempted a traffic stop.

Agents were targeting Zambrano-Contreras for arrest.

Moncada, who was driving the vehicle, entered the USA illegally in 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration. Authorities said the man had previously been arrested for drunken driving and driving without permission, and a final investigation was pending against him. lifting order.

Passenger Zambrano-Contreras also entered the United States illegally from El Paso, Texas, in 2023. He had played an “active role in a prostitution ring in Tren de Aragua” and was previously involved in a July 2025 shooting incident stemming from a bad prostitution deal., officials said.

During the traffic stop, federal agents ordered them to exit the vehicle, but they refused, prosecutors said.

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Officials said Luis Moncada crashed into a damaged Border Patrol vehicle during an attempt to arrest him. (Ministry of Justice)

Instead, Moncada put the car in reverse and struck an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle “with such speed and force that it caused significant damage,” the complaint states. He then moved the car back and forth multiple times, striking the USBP vehicle several times, prosecutors alleged.

Prosecutors alleged that a Border Patrol agent, fearing Moncada would attack the agents, opened fire on Moncada before fleeing the scene. He and Zambrano-Contreras were attacked with guns.

Moncada allegedly parked the car at an apartment complex and called 911. “When law enforcement arrived and applied a tourniquet to him, he allegedly said f— ICE.”

Luis Moncada and a damaged Border Patrol car

Luis Moncada is accused of trying to crash his vehicle into a black U.S. Border Patrol car during an arrest attempt in Portland. (Ministry of Justice)

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

During questioning, Moncada allegedly admitted to deliberately crashing his car into a Border Patrol vehicle in an attempt to escape.

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Police in riot gear confront protesters outside an ICE facility during a night protest in Portland, Oregon.

Police in riot gear confront protesters outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility as demonstrations erupt Thursday night, Jan. 8, 2026, hours after a shooting involving a federal immigration officer in Portland, Oregon. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

The Justice Department said it did not have body camera footage of the six Border Patrol agents involved. Efforts to capture what happened on social media and from security cameras were unsuccessful.

The shooting took place the same week that anti-ICE protester Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis after she allegedly tried to hit him with her vehicle.

The Trump administration said Good obstructed immigration enforcement operations and tried to run over an ICE agent who fired in self-defense. It was determined that İyi died at the scene.

Oregon officials condemned the attack in Portland, and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, claimed it was “incited by the Trump administration’s reckless agenda.”