BODY OF DEA AGENT IS FOUND IN MEXICO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00788R001900750004-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 5, 2003
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: March 6, 1985
• Content Type: NSPR

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-
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 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
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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.
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 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.