This is simply incredible.

Whether he was up to no good or simply desperate to play BrickBreaker, a Mexican press attache was caught on camera by Secret Service pocketing several White House BlackBerries during a recent meeting in New Orleans, FOX News has learned.

Sources with knowledge of the incident said the official, whose first name is Rafael, took six or seven of the handheld devices from a table outside a special room in the hotel where the Mexican delegation was meeting with President Bush.

Everyone entering the room was required to leave their cell phones, BlackBerries and other such devices on the table, a commonplace practice when high-level meetings are held. American officials discovered their missing belongings when they were leaving the session.

It didn't take long before Secret Service officials reviewed videotape taken by a surveillance camera and found footage showing "Rafael" absconding with the BlackBerries.

Sources said "Rafael" made it all the way to the airport, where the Mexican president was preparing to leave New Orleans, before Secret Service officers caught up with him. He was forced to return the BlackBerries.

Sources said the man claimed to have taken the devices accidentally. The sources said they believe no further actions were taken against him by American authorities, though it is unclear what disciplinary measures, if any, await him in Mexico.

What seems to have been discounted here is the possibility that this was actually a case of espionage. After all, during the Cold War, "press attache" often meant "CIA operative" in countries behind the Iron Curtain. I suppose that they could have been seeking classified information of some sort.

I'm curious -- did "Rafael" have time to do a data dump of the information from the Blackberries? And whose devices did he steal? Many more questions than answers.

UPDATE: More info from Malkin. The thief/spy is Quintero Curiel -- and he claimed diplomatic immunity and was allowed to leave the country despite his crimes. Why hasn't the US media done more with this story? Afraid of the patriotic reaction of real Americans, and afraid to offend the undocumented ones?

Posted by: Greg at 10:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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