Police chief cries, confirms Tren de Aragua ties in CBP shooting

Portland Police Chief Bob Day appeared to wipe away tears as he addressed reports from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that the suspects shot by Border Patrol agents during a targeted immigration enforcement operation were affiliated with Tren de Aragua.

During a news conference on Friday, Day provided updates on the Jan. 8 incident in Portland, Oregon. The suspects, Luis David Nino-Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, were hospitalized and are in federal custody, according to the police chief. 

Day said that Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras are confirmed to have “some nexus to involvement” with Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan transnational gang with a record of committing acts such as human trafficking, theft and drug crimes. 

“I want to speak for just a moment, specifically to my Latino community. It saddens me that we even have to qualify these remarks because I understand, or at least have attempted to understand, through your voices, your concern, your fear, your anger,” Day said, appearing to become emotional.

“This information, in no way, is meant to disparage or to condone or support or agree with any of the actions that occurred yesterday. But it is important that we stay committed to the rule of law, that we stay committed to the facts, that we stay a trustworthy and legitimate police department of all of Portlanders,” he added.

The shooting involving Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras took place on Thursday after Border Patrol agents initiated an immigration enforcement operation on a vehicle that reportedly belonged to a female engaged in a Tren de Aragua prostitution ring. 

According to a Monday statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Nino-Moncada is an illegal alien and a known associate of Tren de Aragua, who was living in Portland despite a judge having ordered his removal in 2024.

The female passenger in the vehicle at the time had previously been arrested by Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, and later failed to report to immigration authorities, according to the DOJ. The same woman is also believed to have been involved in a shooting stemming from a bad prostitution deal, according to law enforcement reports referenced by the DOJ.

After the agents initiated the operation, according to the DOJ, Nino-Moncada repeatedly struck a law enforcement vehicle with his own vehicle during a traffic stop, threatening the lives of multiple Border Patrol agents and causing considerable damage to government property.

In an interview after authorities apprehended him, Nino-Moncada reportedly confessed to purposely ramming the vehicle with the full knowledge that there were Border Patrol agents in it.

Authorities have charged Nino-Moncada with aggravated assault of a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and also depredation of federal property exceeding $1,000.

The DHS issued a statement the day after the shooting, declaring that the Border Patrol agent took “immediate action to defend himself and others” after the suspects “weaponized their vehicle” against the agents. 

According to the DHS, Zambrano-Contreras is a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela with ties to the Tren de Aragua gang. The federal agency blamed the Biden administration for releasing Zambrano-Contreras into the country after she illegally entered the U.S. in 2023 near El Paso, Texas. 

Zambrano-Contreras has played an “active role” in a Tren de Aragua prostitution ring and was involved with a prior shooting in Portland in July, according to the DHS. 

The DHS stated that Nino-Moncada “illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration” and was later “arrested for DUI and unauthorized use of a vehicle,” with “a final order of removal.”

“Only one day after an ICE officer was almost ran over in Minneapolis, two vicious Tren de Aragua gang members — let loose on American streets by Joe Biden — weaponized their vehicle against Border Patrol in Portland,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Friday statement. 

“The agent took immediate action to defend himself and others, shooting them. Thankfully, no law enforcement was injured as these criminals fled. Our law enforcement officers are on the frontlines arresting terrorists, gang members, murderers, pedophiles, and rapists,” McLaughlin continued. “They are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks against them, and an 8,000% increase in death threats against them. The violence must end.”