Slain Man in Mexico Positively Identified as U.S. Narcotics Agent

MEXICO CITY —  Medical specialists today positively identified a body found at a Guadalajara ranch as that of kidnaped U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena Salazar.

U.S. Ambassador John Gavin announced the finding.

Camarena, of Calexico, Calif., was abducted Feb. 7 near the U.S. Embassy in Guadalajara.

Found with his body was that of Alfredo Zavala Avelar, a Mexican airplane pilot working for the Agriculture Department who was a friend of Camarena and often helped the U.S. agent investigate drug cases. Zavala’s identity had been confirmed earlier.

The two men were kidnaped within hours of each other in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city, which is considered a world center for illicit drug trafficking.

The two bodies were found Tuesday in plastic bags in a field about 60 miles northwest of Guadalajara. The victims appeared to have been dead at least 15 days, police said.

Francisco Fonseca, spokesman for the federal attorney general’s office, said Zavala’s body was positively identified by dental records and by family members who recognized his clothing and a scar.

An official of the Mexican attorney general’s office said Dr. Tomas Alejandro Herrera, a coroner in the attorney general’s office, found a .38-caliber slug in Camarena’s lung.

The coroner said Zavala apparently died of a beating and asphyxiation, according to the official.

Fonseca said a farmer found the bodies Tuesday near the ranch where five people, including a Mexican federal police agent, died in a shoot-out Saturday. The ranch is located near the village of Vistahermosa, about 60 miles east of Guadalajara.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said Mexican police had received a tip that the bodies could be found at the ranch. They were met by gunfire, but no bodies were located immediately.