After nearly 80 episodes since his debut in Season 23, Det. Joe Velasco officially said goodbye to Special Victims Unit in Season 27, Episode 3.

The episode revealed that Velasco had been recruited by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) to work undercover in San Diego. This storyline connects back to the Season 26 finale, where Velasco received a quiet sendoff — he’d been promoted to Detective Second Grade, celebrated with his squad, and honored with a short montage.

Fans thought that was his goodbye — until he appeared again in Season 27’s opening episodes.

In the Season 27 premiere, Velasco was approached by mysterious men after work and told to get in their car. By the next episode, he confessed to Captain Olivia Benson that he’d been tapped by the DEA for a covert assignment but was still juggling SVU duties.

Halfway through Episode 3, he was summoned to Chief Tynan’s office, where two DEA agents were waiting.

“There’s nothing for you to worry about,” Tynan told him. “We’re just going to have a chat, share our feelings, see if we have the same goals and desires — easy peasy.”

That meeting sealed his fate.

The next day, Velasco met with Captain Benson to break the news:

“They want me to relocate to San Diego,” he said.

He explained that he’d been chasing a dangerous drug lord and couldn’t abandon the mission unfinished.

Benson, as always, responded with grace:

“You need to be where you can do the most good,” she told him.

“Don’t stay here out of loyalty to me.”

Before leaving, Velasco visited Sergeant Fin Tutuola, who was still recovering at home. In one of the episode’s most heartfelt moments, he thanked Fin for helping him find redemption.

“I realized something,” Velasco said. “When I’m in it — when I’m doing the job — I don’t think about the scale anymore. I don’t think about myself at all.”

“Velasco,” Fin replied softly, “you don’t have to say a word. I already know.”

Octavio Pisano’s final appearance marks the end of Velasco’s arc, one centered around redemption, loyalty, and finding purpose through justice.

In total, he appeared in 79 episodes, leaving a complex but memorable mark on the SVU legacy.