MEXICO CITY — Mexican federal authorities took a former governor of the northern border state of Chihuahua into custody in preparation for charging him with laundering money diverted from state coffers while in office, the Attorney General’s Office said Monday.

Ex-Chihuahua Gov. César Duarte — identified in a statement only as "César N” in keeping with rules over the protecting the identity of the accused — was extradited by the United States three years ago to face state charges of embezzlement and was under house arrest.

Juan Carlos Mendoza Luján, a lawyer representing Duarte, told the newspaper El Heraldo de Chihuahua that Duarte had been detained and that his lawyers were still gathering information, but that his detention appeared unlawful.

Attorney General Ernestina Godoy said a s

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