MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The U.S. Marshals Service has captured Vincent Legrend Walters, one of the law enforcement agency's 15 most wanted fugitives, in the Mexican resort city of Cancun.

Walters, 45, wanted on kidnapping, murder and drug charges stemming from a 1988 San Diego case, was apprehended Friday morning, then transported to Mexico City where he will await extradition to the United States, the service said late on Friday.

Walters had been working at the Cancun International Airport under the assumed name Oscar Rivera, according to a statement released by the agency.

Walters was targeted in an undercover Drug Enforcement Agency operation in 1988, accused of buying $20,000 worth of chemicals used to make methamphetamine as well as negotiating a $200,000 drug deal with undercover agents.

After he lost possession of the finished meth, Walters allegedly took three individuals hostage, including Christina Reyes, in an attempt to trade them for the drugs. But Reyes was killed in a botched release, gagged with a chemically saturated rag, according to the statement.

The U.S. Marshals Service said it worked closely with Mexican law enforcement authorities on the capture.

(This story has been refiled to add missing dollar sign in the fourth paragraph)

(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Philip Barbara)