The wife of a convicted sex trafficker from Latvia has been arrested by U.S. immigration officials as part of a week-long operation that netted 20 fugitive aliens in the Chicago area.

Rudīte Pede, 30, wife of Alexander Mischulovich, was arrested March 6 at her Elmwood Park, Ill., home, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced March 14.

She had been convicted last year of visa fraud and conspiracy for her role in a human trafficking ring that brought women from Latvia to dance in Chicago strip clubs. Pede was ordered deported in March 2005, but became a fugitive when she failed to surrender to ICE in July.

Pede’s husband, Alexander Mischulovich, is serving a nine-year sentence in federal prison for involuntary servitude for operating the ring.

Also arrested, ICE announced, were fugitives from Bulgaria, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. All were hiding to avoid deportation, the agency said.

Writer, polar explorer, photographer and documentary filmmaker Ivars Sīlis tells the story of his youth living in exile in Denmark in a new book, Nabagi pilīs (The Poor in Palaces).

Sīlis, born in Vestiena, Latvia, in 1944, left the country with his mother and brother, eventually joining a group of Latvian exiles living in a palace at Gurre in Denmark’s Noord-Seeland region. It is there, according to the Rīga-based publishing company Nordik, that Sīlis heard the stories of adventure that inspired him.

Sīlis particularly is known for his treks around Greenland, about which he has published several books.

Nabagi pilīs is told to his daughter. Sīlis relates his time in refugee camps and his later encounter with the Latvian storytellers who lived at Gurre.

The 224-page book is the second title by Sīlis published by Nordik. In 2003, the publishing house released Vēstules no Arktikas (Letters from the Arctic). Sīlis previously has written about his connection to Latvia in Breve fra Lettland (Letters from Latvia), published in 1992 in Denmark.

For more information about Sīlis, visit his Web site, www.silis.gl. For more about Nordik, the publishing house, visit www.nordik.lv.

Latvia’s ambassador to Portugal, Ints Upmacis, is recovering in a Lisbon hospital after sustaining serious injuries in a traffic accident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

The accident occurred March 1, the ministry said in a short statement. Local police are investigating the accident.

Upmacis was named ambassador to Portugal in 2003.

While he is recuperating, First Secretary Inga Krastiņa will take over Upmacis’ responsibilities, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press office.

The Embassy in Latvia in Lisbon opened in 1997.