Alleged Tren de Aragua Member Shot by Border Patrol in Portland Now Facing Federal Charges

Luis Nino-Moncada, the alleged member of a notorious Venezuela gang who, together with a female passenger, was shot by a Border Patrol agent in Portland last week, will appear in court today (Tuesday) charged with aggravated assault of federal property in excess of $1,000.

The Suspect Will Never Walk Free Again in the U.S.

Referring to Nino-Moncada as an illegal alien with ties to a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a news statement that the Department of Justice ‘will ensure he NEVER walks free in America again.’

The couple was shot in a parking lot of the Adventist Health Clinic near Southeast Main Street last Thursday afternoon in an incident described by Border Patrol as a defensive action by one of its agents after Nino-Moncada ‘weaponized’ his vehicle.

In a press statement yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice states that Nino-Moncada, a known associate of the transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA), and an illegal alien living in Portland, was facing criminal charges ‘for violently striking a federal law enforcement vehicle during a targeted enforcement operation.’

Nino-Moncada was shot in the arm, and his female passenger, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, was shot in the chest, after he allegedly backed his vehicle into an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle, striking it repeatedly.

The front bumper of the Border Patrol vehicle was torn off, both headlights were smashed, the front driver-side panel was dented, as was the rear passenger door panel, and the fender lining was detached.

Tren de Aragua is a Notorious Gang that Originated in a  Venezuelan Prison

In July 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement that Tren de Aragua had originated as a prison gang in Venezuela, but had quickly expanded throughout the Western hemisphere. Its activities included human smuggling, illegal mining, kidnapping, human trafficking, extortion, and trafficking of illicit drugs.

Described as a deadly criminal threat to the U.S., the Treasury Department said that the TdA gang leverages transnational networks to traffic people, especially migrant women and girls across borders for sex trafficking and debt bondage. When victims sought to escape, TdA gang members often killed them and publicized their deaths as a threat to others.

As TdA expanded, it infiltrated local criminal economies in South America, established transnational financial operations, laundered funds through cryptocurrency, and formed ties with the U.S.-sanctioned Primeiro Comando da Capital, a notorious organized crime group in Brazil.