U.S. Posts $50,000 Reward in Drug Agent’s Abduction

The U.S. government posted a $50,000 reward Monday for information about the abduction of Enrique S. Camarena, an 11-year veteran of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, from Guadalajara last week.

Francis M. (Bud) Mullen, director of the agency, arrived in Guadalajara over the weekend to direct the investigation, American officials disclosed. At the same time, drug enforcement agents from the United States--no one would say how many--were quietly brought into Mexico to step up the search.

Mexican police and narcotics agents continued to scour Guadalajara and the western state of Jalisco for signs of the missing narcotics agent.

A U.S. official said the number of Mexican police, narcotics agents and soldiers enlisted to find Camarena could reach into the hundreds. “What we know for sure is that they have poured a lot of manpower into Guadalajara,” he said.

Camarena, 37, has been sought since Thursday afternoon, but the search was kept secret for several days to avoid the possibility that premature publicity would endanger his life.

“We think he was walking from the consulate to his car,” said one U.S. official familiar with the investigation. “He was going to meet his wife for lunch at a restaurant, but he never got there.”

The official would not confirm reports that passers-by witnessed the abduction, but he added: “We are sure he was kidnaped. And who else would snatch him except drug pushers?”

The same day that the U.S. agent disappeared, Alfredo Zavala Avelar--a Mexican government pilot who was described as a personal friend of Camarena’s--was also kidnaped, officials said. They said they have witnesses to that kidnaping but do not know if it is related.

Drug Enforcement Agency officials in Washington remain optimistic that Camarena will be found alive. “We don’t have any reason to believe he is dead,” a spokesman said.

The mood of some U.S. officials here was less sanguine, however.

“If they just wanted to throw a scare into him, there is no reason to hold him this long,” said one embassy source. “And there has been no ransom note or communication received by anyone. . . .

“As for an exchange, that’s not very likely. We don’t have anyone to exchange him for, and the Mexicans (the Mexican government) don’t play the game that way, anyway.”

No Previous Kidnapings

A spokesman said the U.S. Embassy has no knowledge of any previous kidnapings or killings of U.S. drug agents in Mexico.

Threats against Americans by Latin American drug traffickers have been reported in the last year. Among them were suspected plots by Colombians to blow up the Drug Enforcement Agency headquarters in Washington and by Bolivians to assassinate Edwin Corr, the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia. In addition, Colombian Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla was killed by traffickers after cooperating with the United States in raids on cocaine producers.

Over the last few years, Guadalajara, 280 miles northwest of Mexico City, has become one of the focal points of the illicit drug trade in Mexico.

The United States and Mexican narcotics agencies have increased their activities in the area. Last October, a car belonging to another U.S. drug enforcement agent was riddled with machine-gun fire in Guadalajara. The agent escaped injury and was transferred out of Mexico.

According to U.S. law enforcement officials, most of the trade involves marijuana and heroin produced locally, but more and more cocaine bound for the United States from South America has been noted recently.

The introduction of cocaine and the abduction of an American agent raised speculation among some U.S. law enforcement figures about the possible involvement of South American drug pushers in the area.

‘Not Their Style’

“The locals, unless you catch them in the act, try to avoid a confrontation,” said one American investigator. “This is not their style. It embarrasses the Mexican police into doing something, and they don’t want that. It’s really going to hit the fan now--you watch.”

Mexican newspapers reported that a Colombian drug kingpin described as the godfather of the cocaine traffic in the area was being sought for questioning, but neither American nor Mexican officials could confirm this.

The Drug Enforcement Agency maintains a significant presence in Mexico, which in the early 1970s was thought to be the principal source of illicit drugs entering the United States. About 35 agents are assigned to offices in Monterrey, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Merida (in Yucatan state) and Mazatlan.

Many of them, like Camarena, are native Spanish speakers who can work easily with Mexican police and inconspicuously conduct investigations on their own.

Marine Corps Veteran

Camarena was born in Mexicali but became a naturalized U.S. citizen. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, he obtained an associate of arts degree in criminology from Imperial Valley College in Calexico and joined the Drug Enforcement Agency in June, 1974.

He was assigned to El Centro, Calexico and Fresno before taking the job in Guadalajara in June, 1980. Officials said he was scheduled to be reassigned to the United States this summer. His wife and three sons, ages 11, 6 and 4, live with him in Mexico.