Camarena was kidnapped and killed during a harrowing time in efforts to stop drugs from pouring across the U.S. southern border. 'Narcos: Mexico': How similar is the real-life torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena to the story. He decided not to become a police officer because his dad thought it was too dangerous, according to NBC San Diego, which quoted him as saying, I grab a little bit from one supervisor, I grab a little bit from another, and added on to me to become who I am today., Judge Enrique Camarena Jr. is speaking to @MSASanDiego 6th Graders. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. It would be the last time Camarena was seen alive. But who was Kiki Camarena and how did he enter the Guadalajara drug scene? The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. That was the last time anyone but his kidnappers would see him alive, reveals the DEA, adding that he likely died two days later. All three series tell the story of Kiki Camarena, a 37-year-old DEA agent assigned to work in Mexico during the 1980s. Was he really abducted? Sara Coso was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, the daughter of Secretary of Education Octavio Csar Coso Vidaurri and the niece of Governor Guillermo Coso Vidaurri. I wanted to find out what made the guy tick, and I did a lot of research and thank God I spoke with Mika (Camarenas wife), he told Newsweek. Seventeen years elapsed before prosecutors informed Verdugo that the testimony linking him to a hair found at the murder scene exceeded the limits of science. By then, Verdugo had been in prison for 32 years. His assignment: Work undercover to expose and bring down the cartel responsible for smuggling drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. On March 9, his body was flown from Mexico to the U.S. for his funeral (pictured above). }); He stated that all three of the men are said to 'have witnessed CIA operatives working alongside cartel members.'. Outside the house, Kiki and Calderoni nearly had a physical altercation over the inefficieny of the Mexican policing . (1988, July 31). At 2 o'clock in the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 7, 1985, D.E.A. Criminal cases seldom improve with age as both memories and evidence fade, and the investigation of Camarenas murder has produced reams of conflicting evidence that would make any new prosecution especially challenging. In the early afternoon hours of February 7, 1985, Camarena was leaving his post based in the U.S. Consulate office in Guadalajara to meet with his wife. Weighing whether to retry the men, federal authorities reinterviewedwitnesses. }); After his military service, he moved back to his hometown of Calexico, California to work as a fireman and then became a police officer in the Calexico Police Department. Moreover, if its vengeance for costing the cartel lots of money, why not simply assassinate him? Everyone knows that when you kill a cop or a judge, the entire wrath of the state is going to come crashing down on you. Trump and US face logistical nightmare if he follows through with threats, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Camarena's death was thought to have been ordered by Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo, a drug lord known as The Godfather, who controlled trafficking along the US-Mexico border. In 2017, a Mexican court sentenced him to 37 years in prison for Camarena's death. It all started with one man. Thirty-five years later, three former cartel insiders share unprecedented details. eventAction: 'render' eventAction: 'click_image_ads' The Justice Department declined to answer questions about the case. . Camarenas body was found in a rural area outside the small town ofLa Angostura, in the state of Michoacn, on March 5, 1985. The case eventually reached theU.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that lvarez was not entitled to relief. The comments below have not been moderated. }); In its spin-off, 'Narcos: Mexico' goes on to show the Guadalajara cartel's ascent as Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo (Diego Luna), Rafael Caro Quintero (Tenoch Huerta Mejia), and Don Neto, aka Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo (Joaqun Cosio), join hands. Reportedly, the farm had an estimated annual production worth $8 billion. Lemon characterized them in a court filing last year as containing never-before disclosed, incredible and contradictory accounts by all three witnesses who claimed to have witnessed CIA operatives working alongside cartel members. Lemon asked a federal judge to order the government to turn over all discovery concerning alleged CIA involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Agent Camarena.. } Ernesto Don Neto Fonseca and Rafael Caro Quintero were other cartel leaders involved. The lawyer asked a federal judge to order the government to turn over 'all discovery concerning alleged CIA involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Agent Camarena'. Hes been in custody since 1989, however. At this point, nothing would surprise me. To get the message across loud and clear, President Ronald Reagan even completely shut down the U.S.-Mexico border, causing an unbelievable backlog of traffic on the Mexican side of the border. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ There is too many ghosts behind me, Godoy said. Kiki Camarena was born Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena on July 26, 1947, in Mexicali, Mexico. Berrellez was heroic and ended up solving the case. But if you just want to watch The Last Narc only, that is sufficient. As he lay dying, a cartel doctor was ordered to keep him alert by administering drugs.. Camarena received numerous awards while with the DEA, and he posthumously received the Administrators Award of Honor, the highest award given by the organization. Authorities arrested and questioned Ezequiel Godinez-Cervantes, who was among the men indicted in Camarenas murder in 1987, but prosecutors dropped the charges after he was convicted of drug trafficking in Texas. He was interrogated under torture and murdered. Zavala was helping Camarena in his undercover operations, The LA Times reported. Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena, 37, was abducted, tortured and killed in 1985 while . UK orders only if you live outside the UK email me belfastchildis@googlemail.com and Ill send you a link for ordering outside the UK. Other lawyers who received access to some of the new witness accounts described them in a court filing as incredible., Lira, a former state policeman in Mexico who provided security for a Guadalajara Cartel kingpin on the side, told USA TODAY that prosecutors said he might have to testify in court if the case evolves. But the nature of Camarena's torture wouldn't be known until the following year. The government gave him and the two other former Mexican police officers immunity in exchange for information. It helped bring his killers to justice, and exposed Mexican police corruption. U.S. agents working in Mexico reported being tailed by cartel operatives, and one agents car was shot up by machine gun fire outside his house. 'Very open to the idea': Julia Wandelt takes DNA test to verify if she is missing Swiss girl Livia Schepp, Kayla Lemieux: Teacher with prosthetic Z-cup breasts suspended WITH PAY after pics show her dressed as man, 'We have lots to reveal': Madeleine McCann lookalike Julia Wandelt posts footage of meeting with PI probing claims, Lindsay Clancy case: Psychologist reveals psychosis red flags family members could have spotted, Alex Murdaugh's son Buster 'collapsed' outside court after dad was convicted of double murder. gads_event = event; ga('ads.send', { Prosecutors shared summaries of those interviews with lawyers representing Verdugo and Matta. Narcos: Mexico shows the growth of the Guadalajara Cartel, pieced together by Felix Gallardo out of warring factions. Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena, 37, was working for the US government in Guadalajara, Mexico when he was abducted, tortured and killed by cartel members in February 1985. Before Camarena's death, DEA units in . if(document.querySelector("#adunit")){ The Reagan administration would immediately expand the war on drugs, and the U.S. would later see a major increase in arrests and incarceration for drug use as he pushed for wide-scale crackdowns, per Britannica. He was a police officer, and then he became part of the DEA. Kiki and Fredy were tortured for information for a period of over 30 hours, resulting in their deaths. Meanwhile, alleged henchmen Rene Verdugo and Juan Matta-Ballesteros were also jailed for their involvement, before a judge disputed forensic evidence and threw out their convictions in 2017. The murder of a Mexican journalist. Its now showing on Amazon Prime. Since I had represented some people involved in drug prosecutions in federal court in my hometown of Laredo, I was thunderstruck when I heard about the Camarena case. People familiar with the case said there are reasons to be skeptical that much will come of the new inquiry. Actor Diego Luna: "We are still living the consequences" of real-life story told in drug war series "Narcos: Mexico." The death of an American federal agent on the . In October 2013, two former federal agents and a self-proclaimed ex-CIAcontractor told an American television network that CIA operatives were involved in Camarenas kidnapping and murder, because he was a threat to the agencys drug operations in Mexico. By then, prosecutors and agents had begun interviewing witnesses again, including the three former Mexican police officers who had worked as drivers and security guards for some of the Guadalajara Cartels leaders. His body was found dumped on the outskirts of La Angostura. The Mexican drug lord whose role in ordering the kidnapping and murder of a US drugs enforcement agent in 1985 was featured in Netflix drama Narcos: Mexico has been captured by law enforcement.. Rafael Caro Quintero, a notorious co-founder of the brutal Guadalajara Cartel, was behind the torture and murder of 37-year-old DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. The four other defendants, Vsquez Velasco,Juan Ramn Matta-Ballesteros, Juan Jos Bernab Ramrez, and Rubn Zuno Arce (a brother-in-law of former PresidentLuis Echeverra), were tried and found guilty of Camarenas kidnapping. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), The doctors thought that a foreign object, possibly a . Those claims were wrong, not supported by forensic science. His full name was Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, and, in real life, he was a brutal and clever man called El Padrino AKA The Godfather. On the other hand, Kiki's death starts a new revolution in the DEA: a homicide investigation called Operation Leyenda (which translates to Operation Legend). Enrique Camarena Salazar Whats my thoughts ? Statistical breakdown of deaths in the Troubles of Northern Ireland 1969 2001, Irish National Liberation Army ( I.N.L.A), Irish Republican Army. The interrogation was directed at finding out what information Camarena had about the cartel. Enrique S. Kiki Camarena Salazar(July 26, 1947 February 9, 1985) was a Mexican-born American undercover agent for theUnited StatesDrug Enforcement Administration(DEA) who was abducted on February 7, 1985, and then tortured and murdered, while on assignment inMexico. Investigatorsare pursuing additional witnesses to see whether the allegations can be corroborated. ), Young woman left in tears after her huge back tattoo doesn't turn out as expected: 'I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life', Don Lemon will be forced to have 'formal training' after 'frank' talks with CNN boss Chris Licht following 'sexist' Nikki Haley comment and rift with Kaitlan Collins but will return to morning show on Wednesday, 'If Don doesn't go, we will! They then forcibly brought him to the United States to stand trial in federal district court. (I.R.A) History &Background, Kiki Camarena The Brutal Torture & Death of aNarc, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, The Loyalist Mod Death of a fella Mod and a Catholic Friend, True story behind Netflixs Narcos: Mexico. Set in the 1980s, the plot revolves around how an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Enrique S "Kiki" Camarena Salazar . He worked locally. On March 5, his body was found in a field in a town more than 50 miles from where he was taken, reported The New York Times. In late 2018, federal prosecutors decided not to retry the men. It is only at the beginning of season two that we learn that it is Breslin, who spearheads Operation Leyenda, the agency's large-scale investigation into Camarena's murder. eventAction: 'view' } He said he was asked not to discuss the case, but were in a free country.. In 1984-85, Camarena was working on a major case against "Rancho Bufalo," a marijuana plantation. Indirectly, they (the CIA) have got to take some of the blame. He alleged the CIA protected the DFS for decades, and stated, The DFS just got out of hand., Kiki Camarena Death: The Real Story of the DEA Agents Murder, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Did he really move to Guadalajara, Mexico and work for the DEA? . }); The bodies were found wrapped in plastic, riddled with bullets, with blunt head injuries. A few of the men charged in the case remain fugitives. The case of Quintero, for U.S. agents, is personal. Camarena received many awards and is considered an American hero. DEA Rafael Caro Quintero's role in the the 1985 kidnapping and killing of U.S. DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena was a low point in U.S.-Mexico relations. However, he would make a fatal mistake, and season 2 deals with the aftermath of it: The murder of Camarena, and how the DEA responded to it. Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (26 Juli 1947 - 9 Februari 1985) merupakan seorang agen DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) Amerika Serikat keturunan Meksiko yang menjadi korban pembunuhan oleh kartel narkoba Guadalajara pada 1985. On February 7, 1985, the cartel struck, seizing Camarena as he left the office to meet Mika for lunch. The right arm was broken and showed numerous lesions. let gads_event; That will get you better set for watching The Last Narc. In the spin-off seriesNarcos: Mexico, Camarena is played by American actorMichael Pea. The bottom line: Gallardo went way too far by targeting Camarena. Lopez said prosecutors showed him old photographs of former U.S. officials. Today, Fonseca is on house arrest, and Caro Quintera was released from prison in 2013 on a legal technicality and is being sought by the U.S. Camarenas death changed the face of Mexican drug cartels. He was kidnapped Feb. 7, 1985. pg.acq.push(function() { Agent Camarena, 37, a father of three children, was murdered in 1985 by drug cartel members in Guadalajara, Mexico. Slain federal drug agent Enrique Camarena told his killers that agents knew the whereabouts of two of Mexico's most powerful drug lords but did not . The U.S. government effectively closed the border with Mexico to pressure its reluctant Mexican counterparts. A man convicted in the 1985 kidnapping, torture and killing of U.S. DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar was deported after serving three decades in prison, officials said Friday . Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena was born on July 26, 1947, in Mexicali, Mexico. . The DEA Agent's remains were discovered a month later, and investigators later learned that he was brutally tortured for more than 30 hours. }); The DEA would celebrate Camarena by posthumously bestowing him with their highest award: the Administrator's Award of Honor.