Fugitive agent arrested in Mexico

A former drug enforcement agent, who skipped bail on charges that he sold information from law enforcement computers to a private investigations firm, has been arrested.

Emilio Calatayud, a 12-year veteran of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, had fled to Mexico rather than face federal computer crime charges.

According to Reuters, Calatayud was arrested by Mexican Federal Police in Guadalajara last month after fleeing on the scheduled first day of his trial on a charge of selling sensitive information about private citizens.

Calatayud had denied selling data to Los Angeles-based Triple Check Investigative Services for six years beginning in 1993. He is alleged to have made more than £22,000 before being charged.

The data came from the FBI's National Crime Information Center, the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the Narcotics and Dangerous Drug Information System.

Calatayud was charged in January with wire fraud, tax evasion, bribery and violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in connection with the alleged data-selling scheme.

A federal judge later ordered the former agent to be held without bail, and he has now been transported back to Los Angeles.