|
Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes, a resident of Singapore, was
arrested on Sunday after he arrived at Miami International
Airport with his wife to take a flight to Mexico City, the
Justice Department said in a statement.
A Russian government official had recruited Fuentes last year,
and in a meeting in Russia earlier this month provided him with
a physical description of a U.S. government source's car and
instructed him to locate the car and obtain its license plate
number, the Justice Department said.
The statement did not give details about the source.
The couple drove to the source's place of residence on Friday
and Fuentes' wife took a photo of the car's license plate, the
Justice Department said.
A close-up image of the license plate was found on her phone
when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents inspected the
couple's phones at the airport, the Justice Department said.
"Fuentes admitted to law enforcement officers that he was
directed by a Russian government official to conduct this
operation," the Justice Department said.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to
a request for comment.
Fuentes was arrested on a complaint charging him with "acting
within the United States on behalf of a foreign government
(Russia), without notifying the Attorney General, and conspiracy
to do the same."
He is due to appear for a detention hearing on Friday and his
arraignment is set for March 3, both in U.S. magistrate court in
Miami.
(Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Leslie Adler)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
