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This is the story of DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. He was born on July 26, 1947, in the small town of Mexicali in Baja California. In 1956, Kiki moved with his family to Calexico, California. After he graduated from high school, he joined the Marine Corps.
When was Kiki Camarena born?
Where was Enrique Camarena found dead?
Was Kiki Camarena a hero?
How long was Kiki Camarena missing?
Where is Kiki Camarena's wife now?
How was DEA agent Kiki tortured?
Who ordered the kidnapping of Kiki Camarena?
Is Kiki Camarena mentioned in narcos?
How old was Kiki Camarena when he died?
How was Kiki Camarena body found?
Who is Kiki Camarena's wife?
What Cartel operates in Sonora?
...
Sonora Cartel.
| Founded | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Allies | Colombian drug cartels, Guadalajara Cartel |
Who is Kiki Camarena?
Who was Kiki Camarena? Enrique S. Camarena Salazar was an undercover agent who worked for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). His main mission was to eradicate the usage of illegal drugs from every nook and corner of the United States.
Where was Kiki born?
Kiki was born on July 26, 1947, in a small town called Mexicali. When he was nine, his family moved to Calexico, California. After graduating high school, Kiki served in the United States Marine Corps from 1973 to 1975. After working in the Marine Corps, he went to Imperial Valley College and earned his associate degree.
What awards did Camarena receive?
Camarena received many awards for his courage and bravery. One of the most important awards that he received was ‘Administrator’s Award of Honor’ , which is the highest award given by the DEA.
What is Red Ribbon Week?
In 1985, ‘Red Ribbon Week’ was started in his memory. It is basically a campaign that teaches children and young adults about the ill-effects of drugs. In 2004, Enrique S. Camarena Foundation was established in his honor.
Where was Kiki born?
He was born on July 26, 1947, in the small town of Mexicali in Baja California. In 1956, Kiki moved with his family to Calexico, California. After he graduated from high school, he joined the Marine Corps.
Who was Kiki's wife?
His badly beaten body was recovered nearly one month after he was kidnapped. Kiki's wife, Geneva "Mika" Camarena, mourned the loss of her husband.
Why was Kiki reassigned?
Kiki was due to be reassigned in three weeks because he had come dangerously close to exposing the top leaders of a multi-billion drug pipeline. As Kiki walked to his truck, he was approached by five men who shoved him into a beige Volkswagen. One of the men threw a jacket over Kiki's head, and the driver sped away.
Where did Kiki go to college?
After serving in the Marines, he worked as a fireman for the City of Calexico and attended Imperial Valley College, where he earned an associates degree.
When was Red Ribbon Week created?
The first National Red Ribbon Week was created by the National Family Partnership in 1988, and NFP continues to coordinate the campaign for families, schools and communities across the nation each year. A young Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Camarena is pictured here in his high school basketball uniform.
Where was Kiki Camarena found?
A month after his abduction, the body of special agent Kiki Camarena was found by the DEA 70 miles outside of Guadalajara, Mexico. With him, the DEA also found the body of Captain Alfredo Zavala Avelar, a Mexican pilot who helped Camarena to take aerial photographs of Rancho Búfalo.
What was Kiki Camarena's sacrifice?
Kiki Camarena’s sacrifice in the War on Drugs did not go unnoticed. In 1988, just as an investigation into his murder was kicking off, TIME magazine put him on their cover. He received many awards while working in the DEA and he posthumously received the Administrator’s Award of Honor, the highest award given by the organization.
Who was the boss of the Guadalajara cartel?
Some call Guadalajara Cartel boss Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo the Mexican Pablo Escobar, but others assert that “El Padrino,” or The Godfather, was more of a businessman. The big difference between the two was that Escobar built his drug empire on production whereas Gallardo’s empire dealt mostly with distribution.
Who was the DEA agent who was tortured?
In an audio recording of the torture and interrogation of undercover DEA agent Kiki Camarena that was released to the public three years after his 1985 death, one can hear the desperate man pleading with his captors.
The Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena Story
Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena was born on July 26, 1947, in Mexicali, Mexico. He graduated from Calexico High School in Calexico, California in 1966, and in 1968 he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. After serving in the Marine Corps for two years, Kiki was a Calexico fireman, Calexico police officer, and an Imperial County Deputy Sheriff.
Interactive Tribute by Google Earth
In recognition of Red Ribbon Week, DEA partnered with Google to develop an interactive way to explore the life of Enrique Kiki Camarena through the lens of Google Earth.
Where was Kiki Camarena born?
Kiki Camarena was born Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena on July 26, 1947 , in Mexicali, Mexico. He was raised in California, graduating from Calexico High School in Calexico, California in 1966. He was also a veteran, having joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968, according to a DEA biography of him. Camarena held other positions in law enforcement ...
Where did Camarena go to high school?
He was raised in California, graduating from Calexico High School in Calexico, California in 1966. He was also a veteran, having joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968, according to a DEA biography of him. Camarena held other positions in law enforcement before joining the DEA.
Who was the DEA agent who killed Kiki Camarena?
The CIA has denied the allegations. In later years, DEA agent James Kuykendall, who was Camarena’s supervisor in Guadalajara, has spoken out about the CIA and the Kiki Camarena murder. Kuykendall is quoted in the book Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs, and the Press by Alexander Cockburn.
Who was the DEA agent who was murdered?
Kiki Camarena Was Abducted & Murdered, Leading to the Fall of the Guadalajara Cartel. Kiki Camarena spent three years in Calexico for the DEA before he was assigned to the agency’s Fresno office and then to Mexico, where he worked out of its office in Guadalajara.
When was Camarena kidnapped?
In 1985 , Camarena was kidnapped, brutally tortured, and then executed. The Netflix series details the background of the case and how this horrendous crime unfolded. The Amazon Prime series provides the real backstory of what happened to Camarena and why.
Did the DEA orchestrate the kidnapping of Camarena?
Moreover, the DEA even went so far as to orchestr ate the kidnapping in Mexico of a Mexican doctor who was alleged to have assisted with Camarena’s torture. They then forcibly brought him to the United States to stand trial in federal district court.
What happens if you kill a cop?
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. And if the cop or the judge happen to be U.S. federal agents or a federal judge, you’re going to have the full force of the U.S. government being brought to bear on you.
What did Kiki Camarena do?
Early life and education. From 1973 to 1975, Camarena served in the United States Marine Corps. After his military service he became a police officer in his hometown. Camarena was also a Special Agent on the original Imperial County Narcotic Task Force (ICNTF) while working in Calexico, California. Kiki Camarena.
Where was Camarena found?
Link to: Camarena Autopsy Report. Camarena’s body was found in a rural area outside the small town of La Angostura, in the state of Michoacán, on March 5, 1985.
What was the name of the DEA investigation that led to the murder of Camarena?
Investigation. Camarena’s torture and murder prompted a swift reaction from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and launched Operation Leyenda, the largest DEA homicide investigation ever undertaken.
Why did the CIA kidnap Camarena?
In October 2013, two former federal agents and a self-proclaimed ex- CIA contractor told an American television network that CIA operatives were involved in Camarena’s kidnapping and murder, because he was a threat to the agency’s drug operations in Mexico.
What is the Red Ribbon Week?
The nationwide annual Red Ribbon Week, which teaches school children and youths to avoid drug use, was established in his memory. In 2004, the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation was established in Camarena’s memory.
How many acres were destroyed in the Allende plantation?
In 1984, acting on information from Camarena, 450 Mexican soldiers backed by helicopters destroyed a 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) marijuana plantation in Allende (Chihuahua) with an estimated annual production of $8 billion known as “Rancho Búfalo”.
Where was Camarena found?
Camarena was brutally tortured for more than 30 hours before he was killed. His body was found along a road near a ranch in Guadalajara, wrapped in different plastic bags. His skull, jaw, nose, and windpipes were crushed. The gruesome details also involve a hole in his skull inflicted by a screwdriver.
When was Camarena abducted?
A while before Camarena was abducted, the DEA backed by Mexican soldiers on choppers destroyed a 2,500-acre marijuana plantation in Allende, Chihuahua. The farm that was owned by the Guadalajara cartel was estimated to make millions in profits each year. It was in link to this that Camarena was abducted in February 1985. He was abducted by Mexican officials who were working for drug trafficking cartels. It was a common custom wherein many Mexican officials worked with powerful cartels to make money.
What was the Reagan administration accused of?
They are accused of having given illegal weapons to rebels who wanted to fight the Nicaragua government. The federal court also found problems with the evidence used to convict those who were found guilty of Camarena’s murder. Camarena’s wife, Mika Camarena, stated that she had been informed of witness accounts that connect CIA and DEA agents to the crime but did not receive more details beyond that.
