Tren de Aragua pimp who attacked Border Patrol brokers with automobile in Portland charged with assault
“Anyone who crosses the red line of assaulting law enforcement will be met with the full force of this Justice Department.”
The Justice Department on Monday announced charges of assault against an illegal immigrant in Portland believed to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang. According to a newly unsealed federal complaint, Luis Nino Moncada, a Venezuelan national, faces a charge of aggravated assault on a federal officer using a deadly weapon. The incident sparked outrage from the left when initial reports said Moncada had been shot by ICE agents in response to the ramming, which came just one day after an activist in Minneapolis was fatally shot after hitting an ICE agent with her car.
“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.”
“He should NEVER have been in our country to begin with, and we will ensure he NEVER walks free in America again,” she added.
Prosecutors say Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, who are both alleged to be TdA members, were inside a Toyota Tacoma on Jan. 8 when US Border Patrol agents attempted to pull the vehicle over. Authorities were specifically seeking to arrest Zambrano-Contreras at the time of the stop. Charging documents appeared to show that Mocada had been acting as the pimp for Zambrano-Contreras.
Moncada, who was behind the wheel, illegally entered the United States in 2022 and was later released into the country under the Biden administration. Officials said he has prior arrests for DUI and unauthorized use of a vehicle and was already under a final order of removal.
Zambrano-Contreras, seated in the passenger seat, also entered the country unlawfully, crossing into the El Paso, Texas area in 2023. Authorities allege she took an “active role in a Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” and had previously been tied to a July 2025 shooting connected to a dispute over a prostitution transaction.
Prosecutors said that when agents instructed the pair to get out of the truck, they refused to comply.
Instead, Moncada allegedly shifted the vehicle into reverse and slammed into an empty Border Patrol vehicle “with enough speed and force to cause significant damage,” according to the complaint. He then allegedly drove forward and backward repeatedly, hitting the Border Patrol vehicle several more times.
Believing Moncada was about to hit nearby agents, one Border Patrol officer fired his weapon before Moncada sped away from the scene, prosecutors said. Both Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras were struck by the gunfire.
Moncada later allegedly parked the truck at an apartment complex and called 911. When officers arrived and applied a tourniquet, he reportedly said “f*ck ICE.”
Both individuals were then transported to hospitals to be treated for gunshot wounds. During subsequent questioning, Moncada allegedly acknowledged that he deliberately rammed the Border Patrol vehicle in an effort to escape. The Justice Department noted that none of the six Border Patrol agents involved were wearing body cameras and attempts to locate video of the incident through social media or surveillance footage have not been successful.
The Portland shooting occurred during the same week that anti-ICE protester Renee Good was shot and killed in Minneapolis by a federal agent after allegedly attempting to run him over with her vehicle.
Good interfered with immigration enforcement efforts with her vehicle and then ran her car into an ICE agent, who then fired in self-defense. She was pronounced dead at the scene.