The adviser, Jorge Puello, had been presented as a Dominican lawyer for the American missionaries after their arrest last month. -- PHOTO: AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE - AN ADVISER to 10 Americans charged with kidnapping in Haiti on Monday denied he was involved in a sex trafficking ring in El Salvador after police there announced they were investigating him.

The adviser, Jorge Puello, had been presented as a Dominican lawyer for the American missionaries after their arrest last month. He has now returned to the Dominican Republic. In addition to denying any sex trafficking involvement, Puello told AFP he did not have contact with the Americans prior to their arrest, but declined to provide details.

Lawyers for the Americans have also said they did not know him before they were arrested. How they came into contact remains unclear.

El Salvador police have said they are probing whether Puello is the same person sought in the Central American nation over the sex trafficking case, Jorge Torres Orellana, and have posted photos on their website that show a strong resemblance.

'They are accusing me of something that I don't even know myself,' Puello told AFP. 'I'm open to questions. It could happen that two people could have the same name. Whatever the case may be, I'm not afraid of anything.'

Interpol has issued a wanted persons alert for Orellana, saying he is accused of running an international sex trafficking ring. The ring lured women and girls from the Caribbean and Central America into prostitution with bogus offers of modeling jobs, according to Interpol. -- AFP