Salvadoran killed by B.D.F./Police patrol

A confrontation between a joint Police/B.D.F. operation and men in camouflage gear yesterday left a Salvadoran man dead. National Security says two men surprised their patrol and fired at them just as they were about to destroy a marijuana plantation around mile 38 on the Northern Highway. The patrol reportedly returned fire fatally wounding a man identified only as “Jose Luis” of El Salvador. The other man fled the scene, but may have been injured during the exchange. The patrol reported that the deceased used a twelve-gauge pump action shotgun and seven expended ammunition shells were found nearby. Eight sacks of marijuana weighing almost two hundred pounds was confiscated and an estimated twenty thousand plants were destroyed. Two huts with provisions were found in the area. The security forces are asking the public to be on the lookout for anyone suspicious in the vicinity. They believe several other men were guarding the plantation.