BODY OF DEA AGENT IS FOUND IN MEXICO

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP96-00788R001900750004-7
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RIFPUB
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U
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4
Document Creation Date: 
November 4, 2016
Document Release Date: 
September 5, 2003
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4
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Publication Date: 
March 6, 1985
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NSPR
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Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001900750004-7 John Gavin reported. "There is, a ren* reports were awaited on sents "the first real breakthro in the case," apparent discrepanci the officially reported details of 1e raid that led to the recovery of the corpses have caused "confusion" regarding the kidnapers' presumed motives and identities, U.S. sources said. "There are a lot of incots- tencies, a lot of holes in the st ," said one. Discovered near the, city of inora in the state of Michoacan, thei badly decomposed bodies weret transported for autopsies t Guadalajara, capital of neighborin Jalisco state. Camarena and Zavala See MEXICO, A16, Col.1 By William A. Orme Jr.,. high degree of certainty that, it is cause of death. Special to The Washington Post [In Washington, DEA Acting Ad- MEXICO said Francisco Fonseca, ministrator Jack Lawn said the bod- bodies CITY, March 6-The chief spokesman for Mexico's at- bodies of kidnaped 'U.S. Drug En- torney general, adding that a formal ies "had been subjected to physical forcement Administration agent Mexican government statement on violence," with broken bones but no Enrique Camarena Salazar and a the case might not be issued until bullet wounds. Details on A16.1 Mexican colleague were found this Calling the murders of Camarena Thursday, when all the facts are and Alfredo Zavala Avelar "losses in morning near the rural home of a known,, an ongoing war," Gavin noted that family of accused narcotics traffick- . ers who died, last weekend in a po- The two men apparently wereseveral Mexican police were lice shoot-out, Mexican and U.S. killed shortly after their abduction a, killed-reportedly five-today in a officials announced. month ago, Mexican sources said, confrontation with marijuana traf- Preliminary identification based Gavin said the two had been dead Pickers near San Fernando, about on clothing was made by U.S. and "at least 15 days" and he knew of no 70 miles south of Mexico's eastern Mexican authorities this afternoon evidence to support reports that the border with Texas. in Guadalajara, U.S. Ambassador bodies showed signs of torture. Fo- Although the discovery repre- Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001900750004-7 Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001900750004-7 provoked an unusual protest from the governor of Michoacan, who ni' t ;lot who Complained in a message yesterday When police burst into the fain- might also nave officers to prosecute the leaders of ily's modest ' cement-block home, the others were."' Bravo Cervantes' wife, wounded on The Bravos lived in an unprepos- the "18 major gangs" of traffickers the floor, fired a handgun at the , sessing two-story home along the that DEA says operate in Mexico. agen ts, who `s`ho`t back and killed main road in the small rural settle- Yesterday, Luis Octavio Porte Pet-deputy - attorney gen be, they ''later reported. Her hus- gnout yesterday for the erall,formally asked the U.S. Em turned band and sons already were dead, village they said.. 'funeral and burial of the Bravo fain- bassy here to provide "concrete The gunbattle, in which federal, ily, according to local press reports. information" about key figures in and Jalisco state police participated, Mexican federal police reported Mexico's narcotics trade. eing hit with 17 bullets from an awes e a , J-..: *-.1-n ,nne interview. "they U.S. officials repeatedly nave rat judicial police agent died after Ortiz sugg govern ested to- spokesman said. t d live nth rifle fire, prompting a pro- izea, sawn %it. avww ~_~?~~ w--- ~? that he was no m onged exchange in which one fed- spokesmenn tf If the tBravos had been marena abduction, a U.S. Embassy According to police reports, all eras cuunciiuuly ...... .??~ -__. __ damarenats whereabouts our members of the Bravo family were denied an ~opportunity to victim- gwas released last week after a day ickers, one mforme U.S. source q- io federal police agent 4.t,- ,...,pit rnnfrnntation. with sev- A former ........a - ---- atttes ,w s by exec fficials to be involved in drug- with ammunition. t though one,arrived "after thsaide dust The tinning, car theft and highway as- "If this is true, it seems odd that ose cults in the Michoacan Jalisco re- source commented. be let go," a U.S. suspected of involvement in gthe k d i ton U.S. "Th y were hot major drug traf- Some local officials and residents naping by DEA agents here, --A the official account of sources said. m filled on Saturdawith his wife and evening. g avo sons in the identification of Camarena's two so is a;-confrontation with wives of the two Br who reported. o- exican poliice? `A former Micho- died in the gunfight. The two w body, sources _ A-+--A nnlire rennrts Me, D A agent. however, wit- ravo Cervantes, who was honing a A on them were the Bravo home this morning to assist ound at 4 a .m. in plastic bags on a Heath, who runs the agen- - roperty behind-the home of Man- brought to Guadalajara for ques Edward nd released late Monday cy's Mexican program, was at the a a The corpses A -Were reportedly Five suspects awes e U. , .- exec +t, Bravo home Saturday were ican cocaine smuggling. DEA agent I anti the $50,000 U.S. govern- at a Ia an involved .ettt r`e vard remains unclaimed, on the scene, Gov. Cuauhtemoc kidnaping, Camarena was avin said. Cardenas said. in Operation Godfather, a joint n investigation of Mex- t or near c NI ' t d nonymous Mexican police mfor- ha egu d' t n ce b For more than a year prior to his y federal authorities While the location of the noales . Nncnoacaii oLaL, y~?=~~ ?- uvuic ..= k------ _- pparently was' revealed by an the clash "only after the firelight several high-powered weapons, in- d b " and were forcibly kept eluding two AR15s and three Mls. 6u ex MEXICO Fer ndo na Guadala a h, r ' 'Mora O Mexrc~i City 54t1 _r Mexican govern en p ad flown missions for the DEA to the governor of Jalisco S and to A Agents Body Found Site of Mexican Shoot-Out Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001900750004-7 Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001900750004-7 DEA Cites Data Indicatng Agent Beaten Not Shot By Loretta Tofani Washington t?ost Staff Writer The bodies found yesterday in Mexico, apparently including that of a missing Drug Enforcement Ad- ministration agent, "had been sub- jected to physical violence," Acting DEA Aiministrator Jack Lawn said last night. Lawn, quoted a medical examiner in Me;cico as saying the two had broken.bones and one had a gash aeross' his head that could have been the cause of death. No bullet wounds were reported, Lawn said 'at a press conference. The bodies thought to be those of Enrique Camarena Salazar and" a !exican pilot were wrapped in plas- tui and "dumped on a roadside," he tsaid. The pilot had flown missions for DEA. The bodies, which were decom- posed, previously had been buried at another location, and exhumed, according to a DEA source. The bodies were discovered on a roadside near Zamora by Mexican federal police, who were acting on a tip, Lawn said. Lawn said he is in "regular contact" with the State Department, Attorney General Ed- win Meese and the White House about the incident. . Camarena, 37, a Mexican-born naturalized American with nearly 11 years' 'experience at the DEA,. was abducted Feb. 7 as he left his Guadalajara office to have lunch with his wife. An eyewitness told DEA investigators that Camarena was grabbed by four armed men and thrown face down into a car. The pilot was abducted the same day in a different section of the city. Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00788R001900750004-7 Approved For F Iease 2003/09/0 mom V L. 296 'E 4 U.S. fears tgent dead in Meco Tentative III made of decomposed body AU001900750004-7 THURSDAY -MARCH I_1985 _ THURSDAY MARCH 7, 1985 Kidnapped U.S. agent feared dead in Mexico By James Bock city Bureau of The Sun MEXICQ CITY -'The body of a kidnapped American drug agent has apparently been found at a Mexican ranch, U.S. officials here said yester- day. Ambassador John Gavin said a "preliminary identificat)on" left only "a frail and flimsy hope" that the Tiadly decomposed body was not that of Enrique Camarena Salazar, a 87-year-old veteran drug agent. Mr. Eaniareria was kidnapped February 7 by four armed men outside the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara. Another body recovered at El Mareno, a ranch 90 miles southeast of , Guadalajara, was tentatively identified as that of Alfredo Zavala Avelar, a Mexican pilot involved in the ,joint U.S:-Mexican drug eradica- tion program who was kidnapped the .54lfe d_ay as :Mr. Camarena in Guadalajara. El Martino was the site of a shoot- oat on Saturday" that left five per- oft dead after Mexican police raid- ed the ranch looking for "the drug agent and the pilot. No trace of the ],ng men was reported, however, The bodies, which had been dead at least iS days, were badly decom- 1,ication of Mr. Camarena was made S Mr Gavin said. t7 h cl f . . ing, ot rom officials were presenthe said when toe pp ies we`re examined at a hospi- tal In... amora, about'20`miles east of the rnch. ~'hhg bodies were to be flown to as ala ara last night for positive en fi a ion"` based- on dental records and other `forensic materi dls,the ambas`sa`dor said"-- Mr. Gavin said there were "con- flicting reports" concerning how` and whgp a bodies were found. that a search` for the''kidnappe `men had been abandoned - at- tluie ranch Tuesday night, but` that "very early in the morning they told us the bod- ies had been found." A U.S. Emb9A1Yi See MElIC4, 4A, Col. 5 no American officials were present when the bodies were discovered. A Red Cross volunteer in Zamora, Jaime Arizaga, said in a phone inter- view that he and three others were called to the ranch at 5 a.m. yester- day, but arrived to find the bodies in plastic bags atop a patrol car and the ranch sealed off by Mexican Federal Judicial Police. Mexican television reported that the bodies were found buried in plas- tic bags in a lemon grove, their hands and feet tied, and that they had been badly beaten. One report said the two men had been tortured and buried alive. The Mexican Attorney General's Office provided no immediate de- tails. The Saturday raid on the ranch was launched after Mexican authori- ties in Guadalajara received an anonymous tip that the two men were being held, there, Mr. Gavin said. A Mexican police agent was among those killed in the shootout. No evidence of drug trafficking was found at the ranch, but "we still believe major drug traffickers were involved in the kidnapping,"said Lee Johnson, an embassy spokesman. Mr. Gavin said the United States was receiving "good cooperation from the Mexican authorities at this time." U.S. accusations last month that corrupt Mexican officials were stall- ing the Camarena investigation put severe strains on U.S.-Mexican rela- tions. The U.S. mounted Operation In- tercept, a 10-day, program of ex- haustive car-by-car searches that nearly paralyzed commerce and tourism along the 1,700-mile border, Only a February 22 telephone call from Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado to President Reagan, protesting Operation Inter- cept, began to restore normalcy to U.S.-Mexican relations. U.S. officials said they believed the border opera- tion helped inject vigor into the Ca- ASSOCIATED PRESS Kidnapped agent Enrique Ca- marena Salazar is believed dead. Sepulveda and Secretary of State George P. Shultz in Washington. A shootout yesterday morning at a highway checkpoint in northern Mexico left five police officers dead. They were reportedly machine- gunned by drug traffickers protect- ing a truckload of marijuana. Mr. Gavin called the drug fight an "ongoing war" and said,"There is a very real possibility that our own agents may once again suffer these kinds of attacks." The United States closed nine re- mote crossings on the Mexican bor- der last weekend because of threats on American officials. Mitterand seeks to raise French speakers' profile President Francois Mitterrand yesterday launched a crusade to ex- pand the influence of the French- speaking world in the face of a grow- ing Anglo-Saxon onslaught. Mr. Mitterrand, who speaks no marena investigation. foreign language, hosted the first The a isode's effect on the coun- meeting of the Francophone High ease 200G1GOA@ttidnfAeHt?RINsG 00U?Qi A)WMp7of 28 French-speak- of a meeting next week between ing writers, political figures and art- Mexican foreign Minister Bernardo ists.