HOMELAND SECURITY CREDITED WITH CAPTURE OF DRUG FUGITIVE WITH MIAMI
TIES

MINEOLA, N.Y. -- A fingerprint screening system started in January by
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has led to the arrest of an
Ecuadoran fugitive wanted in New York on cocaine charges since 1979, a
prosecutor said Friday.

Patricio R. Salazar, 53, traveled numerous times between the U.S. and
Ecuador over the past 25 years, raising a son _ an American citizen
who is now 18 _ with his longtime girlfriend in Miami, his attorney
said.

He was arrested June 16, when he arrived in Miami on an American
Airlines flight from Quito, said Nassau County Assistant District
Attorney Roxanne Paquette. He was ordered held without bail at his
arraignment Friday in Nassau County Court after waiving extradition
from Florida.

Salazar, who allegedly used variations of his name as aliases to
obtain travel visas over the past quarter-century, was apparently
quite comfortable traveling between the countries despite his fugitive
status, and didn't balk when he was asked to comply this spring with
the new Homeland Security fingerprinting requirement, Paquette said.

When Salazar's fingerprints matched police records on Long Island from
his 1979 arrest, officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration
and U.S. Marshal's Service put the suspect under surveillance and he
was granted a visa to travel to Miami. Agents watched him board the
plane in Quito and counterparts were waiting for him in Miami.

Sometime during the flight, Salazar may have become suspicious that he
was being watched. He changed a green shirt he was wearing to a blue
one, Paquette said, and also changed seats and put on glasses. But a
detective waiting in Miami had a description and photograph of
Salazar, who was taken into custody before leaving the plane.

He initially fought extradition from Florida to New York, but decided
last week to face the charges, said defense attorney Martin Schmuckler.

Salazar pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday on felony cocaine
charges. He is accused of selling a kilogram of cocaine to an
undercover police officer for $52,000. He could face 15 years to life
in prison if convicted.

Salazar was initially held without bail following his 1979 arrest, but
he eventually was freed on $40,000 bail, over the objections of
prosecutors who feared he might flee to Ecuador, Paquette said.

His attorney, who did not contest the prosecutor's bid for no bail on
Friday, contended that Salazar is a different man, noting a ``25 year
history of law-abiding behavior'' by his client. ``This was a sad
event in the life of a much younger man.'' Separately, Paquette told
reporters there is no indication that Salazar continued his alleged
drug dealing since 1979.

The US-VISIT fingerprinting program was passed by Congress in response
to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and began earlier this year.

``That absolutely paid off,'' Paquette said of the new policy.