Esteban Vacas Garcia: Fugitive who built secret hiding place in kitchen units arrested in Spain

The convicted rapist managed to avoid arrest for 12 years

One of Europe’s most wanted fugitives has been found hiding in a secret room built under the kitchen counter of his old family home.

Esteban Vacas García, 49, went on the run 12 years ago after being convicted of repeatedly raping his 15 year-old stepdaughter in Spain.

Frustrated by the failure to track him down, police published his photograph on Twitter and received a tip-off that he was in the northwestern community of Castile and Leon.

“After numerous efforts, he was finally located in the city of Salamanca where he lived in the family home where he had been raised, leaving the building on rare occasions and always in the early hours of the morning,” the Policia Nacional said in a statement.

“Officers went to the house with the mandatory judicial order. There they found that the fugitive had created a cabin under the kitchen counter to hide before the arrival of the agents.”

Footage of the arrest released by police showed Vacas García, dressed only in shorts, being pinned to the kitchen floor and handcuffed before being taken into custody.

The Policia Nacional said Vacas Garcia sexually abused the victim while in a long-term relationship with her mother. He also threatened to kill the girl’s sister and mother if she told anyone what happened.

Vacas Garcia was convicted of sexual assault and rape but fled days before he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Police initially believed he was hiding in a foreign country or in the western community of Extramadura.

“In the month of November 2016 his photograph was spread through the Twitter account of the National Police with positive results for the investigation, placing him in the Castilla y León area,” said the police.

“During the investigation, it could be verified that the detainee was not listed as the owner of any real estate and did not participate in any commercial company.”

He was also placed on Europol‘s most wanted list, which currently includes Shane O’Brien, who is wanted for the murder of Josh Hanson in London in October 2015.