SUSPECT IN DEATH OF DEA AGENT CAUGHT

PHOENIX (AP) -- An accused drug-ring leader sought in the 1994 killing of
an undercover federal drug agent has been arrested by Mexican authorities,
officials said yesterday.

Augustin Vasquez Mendoza, who has been on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List for
four years, was captured Sunday in Tehuacan in central Mexico. U.S.
authorities, who had offered $2.2 million for his capture, have agreed to
waive the death penalty as a term of his extradition.

Extradition could take up to a year, Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley
said. He said informants who helped authorities capture the fugitive will
split the $2.2 million.

Authorities said Vasquez Mendoza's ring produced significant amounts of
methamphetamine in Michoacan state for export to the United States.

In 1994, Vasquez Mendoza was implicated in the killing of undercover DEA
Agent Richard Fass, who was shot in Arizona while buying methamphetamine
from several alleged ring members, authorities said.

Two gunmen were arrested as they fled and a third accomplice was captured a
few days later, but Vasquez Mendoza escaped.