WATCH: Ambassador caught red-handed stealing minimal price book

A video showing a North American country’s ambassador stealing a book worth only $10 has gone viral. The ambassador was caught red-handed while carrying out this activity.

The video footage showed Mexico’s ambassador to Argentina Óscar Ricardo Valero Recio Becerra shoplifting a book from a famous bookstore -El Ateneo- in Buenos Aires, capital city of Argentina.

The footage shows the 76-year-old ambassador picking up a book from a book shelf in a hurriedly carried out activity and wrapping it with what appeared to be a newspaper.

However, as soon as he tried to exit the shop, the alarm bells rang prompting the security staffers at the gate to nab the ambassador.

He was later seen in the video presenting all items purchased from the shop along with their slips to the guards except the one he was carrying in his arms, wrapped up in the paper.

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The book he was trying to steal was a biography of 18th-century Italian adventurer, author and playboy Giacomo Casanova. The bookstore called the police but Valero was not arrested due to his diplomatic immunity.

The Argentine news website Infobae, the first outlet to publish the video of the ambassador’s shoplifting attempt, said the price of the Casanova biography was the Argentine peso equivalent of 189 Mexican pesos or US$10. In contrast, Valero’s monthly salary is 234,000 pesos (US $12,160).

The foreign affairs authorities in Mexico have warned of a strict action against the ambassador, saying that if it is proven that the video is true, he will be removed from his position immediately under zero tolerance policy for dishonesty.