Ecuadorian fugitive wanted for 2019 murder of wife arrested in South Carolina

Ecuador’s 13th most wanted criminal was arrested in South Carolina last week.

ERO Atlanta deportation officers said fugitive Cesar Leopoldo Condor Vaca, 29, was arrested during a targeted operation in Greenville, South Carolina on Jan. 30.

The agency was advised by an assistant attaché in Ecuador that Condor Vaca was most likely in the US and wanted by authorities in his home country for femicide.

Ecuadorian news outlets reported that he allegedly killed his wife in May 2019 and attempted to pass off her death as a suicide. Her death was determined to be the result of a “blow to the head” and Waka was named as a suspect in September 2021.

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His presence in Greenville was confirmed by Atlanta and South Carolina ERO law enforcement agents who worked together to arrange a safe arrest that would not endanger innocent bystanders.

The exact place of his detention was not disclosed.

“Foreign fugitives fleeing criminal prosecution in their own country will not find asylum in the United States,” said Sean Ervin, director of the ERO Atlanta field office. “Our immigration officers work closely with their state and local counterparts and are uniquely trained to track down illegal alien fugitives in order to repatriate them to their home country to face justice for the crimes they allegedly committed.”

The ERO assessment showed that Waka entered the US on March 15, 2021 legally, but did not depart on the required date.

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FILE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent (Fox News)

ERO Atlanta officers served him with a Notice of Appearance and he will remain in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody pending removal proceedings.

According to the ERO, noncitizens who are subject to a removal case receive due process from federal immigration judges in immigration courts administered by the Department of Justice’s Executive Immigration Review Office, which is separate from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.

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Federal immigration judges in the courts then decide on each individual case, and ICE officers make removal decisions.

In fiscal year 2022, the ERO reported that 46,396 non-citizens were arrested nationwide on 198,498 charges and convictions.

Of these charges, 21,531 were a form of assault, broken down as follows: 8,164 sex and sexual assault offenses, 5,554 weapon offenses, 1,501 murder offenses, and 1,114 kidnapping offenses.