EX-AGENT DISAPPEARS

PROVIDENCE, R.I., (UPI) - Cesar A. Mareno, former
informant/agent for the now disbanded R.I. Attorney General's
Narcotics Strike Force, has turned up missing.

Authorities say they fear he has fled the country rather than face
prosecution for causing the arrest of several innocent people on
trumped up drug charges.

The 39-year-old Middletown, R.I., resident has been under indictment
since October after he admitted that he knowingly violated the
constitutional rights of at least seven Rhode Island residents by
arresting them and falsely testifying in their trials.

For several years, Moreno was the strike force's star
informant.

He was paid for his work and often joined agents on raids,
instructing them to arrest certain suspects. Senior FBI resident agent
Dan Knight says that his department feels Moreno may have returned to
his homeland, Colombia, which has no extradition agreement with the
United States.