A couple linked to the notorious Tren de Aragua criminal organization faced gunfire after allegedly attempting to run over ICE officers.
Identified as Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, the pair, who entered the U.S. during the Biden Administration, encountered agents in Portland on Thursday.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the couple attempted to flee by driving their vehicle towards the agents.
“In fear for his life and safety, an agent discharged his weapon defensively as the driver fled with the passenger, leaving the scene,” explained DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
Authorities later discovered the Venezuelan duo, both suffering from gunshot injuries, a few miles from the original confrontation after Moncada contacted emergency services around 2:20 p.m. They were subsequently hospitalized.
McLaughlin described Moncada as a “gang member” and Zambrano-Contreras as a “prostitute,” emphasizing that they were “NOT an innocent ‘married couple.'”
DHS said Moncada illegally entered the US in 2022. Since entering the country, he has reportedly been arrested for a DUI and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
His wife is associated with the gang as well, DHS said. She entered the US a year after Moncada.
Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras tried to escape ICE after being approached by agents in Portland on Thursday
Agents pulled them while they were inside their vehicle and identified themselves. Moncada then tried to run the agents over, Homeland Security said
DHS accused Zambrano-Contreras of playing an ‘active role in the Tren de Aragua prostitution ring.’ She was also allegedly involved in a separate Portland shooting.
The FBI is leading an investigation into the shooting. The Oregon Department of Justice, which is run by AG Dan Rayfield, announced it would also investigate the federal agents involved.
They were shot a day after Renee Nicole Good, 37, was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
‘Over the last two days we’ve had two shootings in two different states,’ Rayfield lamented.
‘There’s a heightened sense of concern within this state. Our plan is to go in, look at the facts in an objective matter to see what transpired and if there is an applicable state law violation.’
The gang’s relevance in the US has resurfaced after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last Saturday.
Tren de Aragua have largely been on the run since Trump took office.
However, federal officials fear sleeper cells made up of gang members could be awakened to carry out orders from what’s left of the Maduro regime as they try to stay in power.
They were shot a day after Renee Nicole Good, 37, was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis
‘That’s something that local law enforcement and federal law enforcement is going to have to be aware of – that these guys could still be subversives in the area and controlled by that party,’ a Trump Administration official, who spoke anonymously, told the Daily Mail.
‘There’s definitely a network within the US trying to destabilize the US and use these guys, but local law enforcement and federal law enforcement is well aware of it. They have good intelligence assets out, trying to stop anything before it happens.’
Reactivation could mean that, instead of lying low to evade police, gangsters would risk being caught in order to carry out attacks.
Maduro’s henchmen have been operating in the US since summer 2022, when they first entered the country through the nation’s southern border.
Members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang turned international criminal organization, came to America under the direction of Maduro and his regime, carrying out the dictator’s orders and unleashing a wave of crime from Miami to New York City.
The Daily Mail was the first news organization to report on the gang’s presence in the US, revealing who they are, how they were operating in American cities they had infiltrated, and their ties to Maduro’s illegitimate government and global terrorism.
