NEW YORK — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed an Ecuadorian national Friday who is wanted in his home country on rape charges.

Jason Vizcaino-Velepucha, 22, was removed from the United States via an ICE Air Operations Charter flight and transferred into the custody of Ecuadorian law enforcement authorities upon arrival to the capital of Guayaquil.

“Vizcaino-Velepucha sought refuge within our communities to avoid arrest and prosecution in his own country,” said Thomas Decker, field office director for ERO New York. “It is safe to say that no one wants a man wanted for rape lurking in their neighborhoods, and that is why ICE will continue to target and arrest those criminal aliens and return them to their home country to face the consequences of their actions.”

According to Ecuadorian law enforcement authorities, in October 2014, Vizcaino, acting in concert with others, committed the crime of rape while in Morona Santiago, Ecuador. The victim was a teenage female.

Vizcaino illegally entered the United States at an unknown place, on an unknown date. On March 1, 2016, Ecuadorian authorities issued an arrest warrant, charging Vizcaino with the rape. On Sept. 2, 2017, ERO-New York discovered that Vizcaino was residing in Suffolk County, New York, and arrested Vizcaino on immigration charges that same day in Hampton Bays, New York. On May 16, 2018, Vizcaino was ordered removed by an immigration judge, paving the way for his removal to Ecuador.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 1,700 foreign fugitives from the United States who were sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. In fiscal year 2017, ICE conducted 226,119 removals nationwide. Eighty-three percent of individuals removed from the interior of the United States had previously been convicted of a criminal offense.