Fugitive former Mexican governor arrested in Miami

By Zachary Fagenson and Diego Oré

MIAMI/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Police in Miami on Wednesday arrested the former governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Cesar Duarte, who is wanted on corruption charges in his homeland, U.S. and Mexican officials said.

Duarte, who governed the northern border state from 2010 to 2016, has been accused by Mexican authorities of misappropriating public funds.

The Mexican attorney general's office said Duarte faced extradition back to Mexico. Its statement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump met with his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, at the White House.

Duarte, who governed Chihuahua for the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has previously denied wrongdoing.

Lopez Obrador said in January that the United States had agreed to extradite Duarte. Interpol had issued a wanted notice for the former governor.

Manny Puri, assistant chief for the U.S. Marshals Service in South Florida, said Duarte was taken into custody by the Marshals' fugitive task force in Miami "without any incidents."

Duarte was arrested on a U.S. warrant on behalf "of Mexico for embezzlement and fraud," added Puri.

U.S. court documents said the allegations against Duarte included irregularities in Chihuahua state subsidy programs and a transfer of 96,685,253 Mexican pesos (over $6.5 million in 2014) to two businesses where Duarte was at times chairman.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist, took office in December 2018 pledging to stamp out corruption that plagued previous governments.

(Reporting by Diego Ore in Mexico City and Zachary Ferguson in Miami; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Dave Graham and Peter Cooney)