5 U.S. AGENTS DEAD IN ANDES PLANE CRASH

A search party confirmed last night that five U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were killed in a mysterious weekend plane crash in Peru's cocaine-producing jungle. The CASA C-212 twin-engine plane went down Saturday in the Upper Huallaga Valley, a remote area in one of only two South American regions where illegal coca leaves are grown. Peruvian air force commandos spotted the wreckage Sunday, but heavy rains and thick vegetation hampered the recovery operation for a day. A D.E.A. investigation is trying to discover whether armed drug traffickers or Shining Path guerrillas who infest the area played any role in the crash.