A 22-year-old man the Avery County Special Response Team and the U.S. Marshals Service call a “known and verified” MS13 gang member was taken into custody Saturday morning.
Officials said the suspect, Milton Portillo-Rodriguez, is a high-risk fugitive from El Salvador who was hiding in the Banner Elk area of Avery County.
Portillo-Rodriguez was previously living in the Maryland area and was being sought in a June homicide.
He is awaiting extradition proceedings before being returned to stand trial for the crimes.
Portillo-Rodriguez is being held in Avery County Jail without bail until his initial hearing on Thursday.
“Everything went as planned this morning and we were able to take a really bad guy off the streets who thought that he could hide in our rural community,” Avery County Sheriff Kevin Frye said. "He thought wrong."
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