Franklin Platero-Rodriguez, 21, an alleged member of the MS-13 gang, was arrested Tuesday in Ladson, South Carolina. (Berkeley County Sheriff's Office)
An MS-13 gang suspect who allegedly killed a man and burned the body was arrested this week in South Carolina, immigration officials confirmed to Fox News.
Franklin Platero-Rodriguez, 21, was taken into custody without incident on Tuesday at a Subway restaurant in Ladson, roughly 20 miles northwest of Charleston, The Post and Courier reported.
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Walker County, Texas, officials issued a warrant for Platero-Rodriguez's arrest for homicide by firearm in the death of a man in the Houston area earlier this year.
The suspected gang member was found with a 9 mm pistol, which the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday could have been the weapon used in the Texas murder.
Platero-Rodriguez was found with a 9 mm pistol, which the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office said could have been the weapon used in the murder of a man in Texas earlier this year. (Berkeley County Sheriff's Office)
Officials said the suspect killed the man, put his body in the trunk of the vehicle and poured gasoline on it before setting the vehicle on fire. He then apparently fled to South Carolina.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Fox News that Platero-Rodriguez, through a loophole, was able to enter the country as an unaccompanied alien child (UAC) — an illegal immigrant under the age of 18 who's entered the country.
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Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said the 21-year-old had previously been deported but illegally entered the U.S. again. He said Platero-Rodriguez faces charges of unlawfully carrying a firearm, possessing a stolen pistol and being a fugitive in possession of a gun.
The MS-13 gang, responsible for dozens of gruesome deaths throughout the U.S., was started by Central American immigrants, mainly from El Salvador, in Los Angeles in the 1980s. It has expanded since to include Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans and other Central and South Americans.
Fox News' Brooke Singman and Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.
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