Ex-Envoy Held in Arab Migrant Smuggling Case
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A former Mexican consul to Lebanon has been arrested on charges of helping to smuggle Arab migrants into the United States from Mexico, federal agents said.
Imelda Ortiz, a 25-year foreign service employee, was fired in May after 150 Mexican passports were stolen and two others were found to have been issued irregularly at a Mexico City consular office, the Foreign Relations Department said. That pending case is unrelated to the smuggling.
Reforma newspaper quoted an investigator as saying there was no known link between the alleged smuggling and terrorists.
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