BY ELAINE DE VALLE, FABIOLA SANTIAGO AND MARIKA LYNCH

 A high-ranking Miami official with the Immigration and Naturalization Service was
 arrested by FBI agents Thursday for allegedly spying for the Cuban government.

 Mariano Faget, 54, a 34-year veteran, is acting district deputy director for
 examinations. He holds a ``secret'' security clearance at INS, according to a
 statement by the FBI.

 That access could have jeopardized supporters of Cubans seeking asylum in this
 country or Nicaraguan contras fighting against the Sandinista regime, said Perry
 Rivkind, INS' Miami director from 1983 to 1989.

 Faget's arrest comes on the heels of the convictions of three of 10 Cuban spies
 arrested in South Florida in September 1998 on charges they were running a spy
 ring that targeted U.S. military installations and Cuban exile groups. Four other
 spies have been indicted but not arrested.

 But FBI spokesman Terry Nelson told the Orlando Sentinel Faget's arrest was
 unrelated to that case.

 Faget supervised adjudication and naturalization decisions, including granting of
 permanent residence status and political asylum.

 ``Due to his position, Faget had access to classified and sensitive INS files
 relating to confidential law enforcement sources and Cuban defectors,'' the
 statement said. ``Through sophisticated technical and physical surveillance
 techniques, the investigation revealed Faget making unauthorized contacts with
 Cuban intelligence officers in Miami and other cities in the United States.''

 Rivkind said he was curious to know when Faget allegedly began spying. When
 the contras and their supporters were traveling to Central America, ``that would
 have been very dangerous to them if someone was able to keep track of them and
 send that information down there,'' he said.

 For asylum seekers from Cuba, Faget's access could have endangered friends
 and associates on the island. People seeking asylum have to name people who
 can verify whether they were persecuted.

 ``He would have had access to all those people,'' Rivkind said. ``When you apply
 for asylum, these are secret and sensitive files. If he were dealing with people who
 were supposed to remain with some anonymity and he had top clearance access,
 then he would know where they were.''

 Faget was being held Thursday at the Federal Detention Center in downtown
 Miami and was scheduled to appear at 2 p.m. today in U.S. District Court for the
 initial appearance hearing.

 Late Thursday, FBI agents were still searching his home at 10056 SW 117th Ct.
 The white, two-story house is in a cul-de-sac in the Amaretto subdivision and
 Miami-Dade Police had cordoned off the area Thursday night.

 SOMETHING AMISS

 Neighbor Chris Vallenilla noticed something amiss when his mother came home
 at 7:30 p.m. and told him there were FBI agents outside. Chris, 15, saw the news
 and recognized his neighbor, Faget. He said the family is quiet.

 ``I've seen them around. They're not the social type,'' he said.

 Rivkind echoed that description.

 ``You never got to know him well. Cold. That's the word. He was like a blank. The
 six years he was with me, I never got to know him, which was unusual. But I
 found him to be a gentleman. Very polite but very distant.''

 Though the arrest was made in conjunction with INS District Director Robert
 Wallis, the agency's top spokesmen in Washington, Maria Cardona and Russ
 Bergeron, said they did not have specifics about the case. They could not
 determine from their homes late Thursday how long Faget had worked for the
 agency or how much he was paid. But according to a story that ran in El Nuevo
 Herald in 1996, he has been working for the INS for at least 34 years.

 Bergeron said Faget will be placed on administrative leave.

 NEWS CONFERENCE

 The INS and FBI will have a news conference this morning at FBI headquarters.

 In the 1996 story, Faget was named the highest-ranking Hispanic INS officer in
 the South Florida district. He was quoted for his efforts in shortening the line at
 the agency's main headquarters at Biscayne Boulevard and 79th Street, where
 more than 100 people would often wait to apply for status, work permits and the
 reopening of their cases. He also said his job was to improve the image of the
 agency in South Florida.

 Faget, who was born in Havana, waited in those lines with his father at the
 beginning of 1960, when they went to INS to claim political asylum. He became a
 citizen Nov. 22, 1963 -- the same day that President John F. Kennedy was
 assassinated in Dallas.

 ``I remember that many people started crying and there was even a person who
 got up and said they were going to change their name to John,'' he was quoted as
 saying in the article. ``I laughed because I thought it was a joke to see how much
 we loved this country and its president.''

 The announcement of his arrest was made by Hector M. Pesquera, special agent
 in charge of the Miami FBI office, Wallis and Alan Hazen, special agent in charge
 of Miami's Office of Inspector General. Their statement said Faget was arrested
 for the federal violation of the Espionage Act and making false statements.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald