[Infowarrior] - Who's Guarding the Blackberries During Meetings?

[Richard Forno]

Mexican Embassy: Official Fired After Getting Caught With White House
BlackBerries

Friday, April 25, 2008

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352378,00.html


Whether he was up to no good or simply desperate to play BrickBreaker, a
Mexican press attaché was caught on camera pocketing several White House
BlackBerries during a recent meeting in New Orleans and has since been
fired, FOX News has learned.

Sources with knowledge of the incident said the official, Rafael Quintero
Curiel, served as the lead press advance person for the Mexican Delegation
and was responsible for handling logistics and guiding the Mexican media
around at the conference.

Mexican Embassy spokesman Ricardo Alday said Thursday he was asked to tender
his resignation once he arrived back in Mexico City.

"Mr. Quintero will be responsible for explaining his actions to the American
authorities conducting an investigation. The Mexican government deeply
regrets this incident," he said.

Quintero Curiel 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 earlier this week.

Everyone entering the room was required to leave his or her cell phone,
BlackBerry and other such devices on the table, a common 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 Quintero Curiel
absconding with the BlackBerries.

Sources said Quintero Curiel made it all the way to the airport before
Secret Service officers caught up with him. He initially denied taking the
devices, but after agents showed him the DVD, Quintero Curiel said it was
purely accidental, gave them back, claimed diplomatic immunity and left New
Orleans with the Mexican delegation.

In a letter sent to Mexican newspapers and broadcasters, Quintero Curiel
said he had picked up the phones because he thought they had been left
behind. He said that as he rushed to the airport, he had given them to a
driver to take back to the hotel to hand them over to management.

In the letter, he said U.S. Secret Service agents had approached him at the
airport, asking him to return the BlackBerries, but he said the agents
thanked him for his help when he explained the incident.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino refused to discuss the incident, telling
FOX News, "We are aware of the situation, but as it's under investigation by
law enforcement officials, we will decline to comment."

FOX News' James Rosen and Mike Emanuel and The Associated Press contributed
to this report