31, 2020 3:11AM ET. During his time in Mexico, Camarena came dangerously close to exposing top leaders of a multi-billion dollar drug pipeline in the country. (You can see photos of the real people behind the Narcos: Mexico characters here.) In addition to this, she has been pretty vocal in the aftermath of the recent news, which has witness accounts to claim that a DEA agent and a CIA operative were involved in the murder of her husband. JALISCO, Mexico Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo appeared in a wheelchair in the maximum security area of the Puente Grande state prison, in Jalisco. A 35 aos del asesinato de Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, el diario estadounidenses USA Today asegur en un artculo escrito por Brad Heath, que las autoridades norteamericanas estn . Why were you linked to this murder? I did not participate in such an act [Camarena's murder]. Camarena received many awards and is considered an American hero. Geneva Camarena returned to California after her husband's death and relocated to San Diego. In February 1985 Camarena was kidnapped by drug traffickers hired by Mexican politicians in Guadalajara, Mexico.He was interrogated under torture and murdered. Enrique "Kiki" S. Camarena was a United States, DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) Special Agent who was kidnapped, tortured, and killed in Mexico in 1985. . Take out your list of movies to watch and place The Last Narc at the top of your list. It was an afternoon, at the beginning of August, and he was coming from the prisons medical ward. We did not meet on the street. These people and I have never chatted. Special Agent Enrique Kiki Camarena: A Man With A Moral Mission Enrique Kiki Camarena was born on July 26, 1947, in Mexicali, Mexico, to Mexican parents. Kiki and his mother, Dora Salazar-Camarena. Netflix introduces actor Michael Pea as Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena in season one of Narcos: Mexico. Son, Brother, Husband, Father, US Marine, DEA Agent. She dedicates her time to promoting drug awareness in schools and communities nationwide.. Gallardo was sentenced to 37 years in 2017 for the death of Camarena by a Mexican court (as well as the murder of Alfredo Zavala, a Mexican pilot), according to The Times. Youve learned a lot from people in this job. They then forcibly brought him to the United States to stand trial in federal district court. Caro Quintero, who's believed to be between 59 and 69, served 28 years of a 40-year sentence in Mexico for the grisly killing of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena before being fre Flix Gallardo was first arrested in April 1989 and has spent 32 years in prison in Mexico for the 1985 murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar. At age 40, Camarena Jr. takes the Superior Court bench after 15 years as a deputy district attorney in San Diego County, and his swearing-in ceremony drew a capacity gallery in the court's presiding department. Camarena was also the father of three sons. Mika has become a major advocate for drug awareness across the U.S., keeping her late husbands memory alive. "It's been 32 years," he said. This doesnt seem to have stopped her as she went ahead to form the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation in 2004. Enrique is around 46, while Erik is 41 years old, and Daniel, the youngest, is 39. . The non-profit's aim is to fight against youth drug use and abuse. There doesn't exist a czar, there's never existed such thing. Warning: Because the real story so closely tracks the fictional one, this article will contain spoilers for Narcos: Mexico. On the face of it, it would appear that Camarena was kidnapped, tortured, and killed because he was responsible for discovering and destroying a massive marijuana plantation in Mexico that cost the drug cartel billions of dollars. Flix Gallardo was 28 when he was first sentenced by a judge in Jalisco. Offers may be subject to change without notice. She later became a clerk in the Calexico Municipal Court, but eventually took the job of a skin-care consultant, which she continued till retiring. They are old men living humble, ordinary lives in . He continues the legacy of justice within the family. Kiki Camarenas slaying outside Guadalajara created international shock waves. We sell bronze life-size busts of Kiki that are unveiled in schools and libraries throughout the country, not just in San Diego. They kept beating me up. In addition to the foregoing, Mika Camarena is the president of the foundation set up in the name of her husband since its inception in 2004. When Kiki was abducted in Mexico, he was tortured and brutally murdered by drug traffickers. She was educated at Calexico High School and later attended Imperial Valley College. Though she keeps a private Instagram account, her Facebook page has various updates of events from her life. His initial trial was the longest in Mexican history, lasting more than 28 years until his conviction in 2017 for the murders of Camarena and Mexican pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar. "It's morphed into something else; I have to oversee everything now," said Camarena Jr."Not just the prosecution, but oversee the entire way the case is handled and all that's put forth in the case and the decisions that need to be made. Mexicos national arrest registry listed the time of Caro Quinteros arrest as around midday. Snow, Rain and Wind in the Forecast Yet Again. His work that is believed to have cost one of the Mexican drug cartels, their land, eventually led to his abduction, torture, and death at the hands of these gangs. Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo: Im not going to talk about because they've treated us poorly. Flix Gallardo: I'm not expecting that. The ending is a sad one, and what happened to Kiki Camarena would change the face of Mexican drug cartels forever and lead to the emergence of El Chapo. From a national health authority. It took five years and four months to face him. The Times noted that the bodies appeared to have been tortured and were found near a ranch in Michoacan state. Lenny Jacobson and Mika Camarena attend the Netflix Original Series Narcos: Mexico, special screening at LA Live in Los Angeles, CA on November 14, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Camarena is pictured here in his high school basketball uniform. A family photo featuring their three sons -- Enrique, Daniel, and Eric. 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. They don't let us have visitors, no phone booths, no lawyers. Shortly before Caro Quintero's arrest Friday, U.S. In 1988, she met with President Reagan (pictured above) and First Lady, Nancy, to raise awareness about drug abuse, per theDEA. Many people in Calexico had began wearing red ribbons after Kiki was murdered, a gesture that later turned into the Red Ribbon campaign and is now celebrated for a week during October 23-31 each year. My life expectancy is nonexistent. She continues her mission to combat the societal effects of drugs in her late husband's honor. Through the enforcement of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), trained agents traveled to the many narcotics hubs, mostly in Central and South America, to enforce anti-drug and trafficking laws. Distractify is a registered trademark. However, she feels that changes in the DEA did help in a significant way after her husband's death, as her children's education was paid for by the amount raised for survivors' benefit. In 2004, she founded the Enrique Camarena Foundation, where she is the current president. 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. Moreover, the DEA even went so far as to orchestrate the kidnapping in Mexico of a Mexican doctor who was alleged to have assisted with Camarenas torture. Powered by. Camarena was abducted by corrupt officers on behalf of the cartel in Guadalajara, Mexico, in February 1985. Thanks to President Ronald Reagan, that decade was when the American government began to laboriously crack down on the influx of drugs coming into the U.S. We are deeply grateful to Mexican authorities for their capture and arrest . She went on to raise her three boys alone. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. So, where are they now? I know that the president is a man of goodwill. In . The CIA has denied the allegations. Three leaders of the Guadalajara drug cartel were eventually convicted in Mexico for Camarena's murder. And thats what Ive been doing up until yesterday. 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. And so for me, its still a little bit about the legacy of duty. He, that person you're mentioning,I was never in Medelln or Cali, as the series says. Caro Quintero had walked free in 2013 after 28 years in prison when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent . After completing her studies, Mika Camarena began working as a medical insurance clerk for a doctor in Calexico. Enrique is now a deputy district attorney. But I knew, she shares. For example, back in 2007, he was part of the Red Ribbon Campaign Against Drugs, to make the public aware of the unseen harm caused by narcotics. He was also a veteran, having joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968, according to a DEA biography of him. He specialized in prosecuting domestic violence and child abuse cases, having promised his father early on that he wouldn't become a police officer because of the dangers. Her husband, Kiki Camarena became a DEA agent after he served as a police officer for several years. Kiki Camarena, the DEA agent that Dr. Delgado is accused of helping torture in Narcos Mexico Season 2. In an interview, regarding the same, she said: I want the truth to be out. Soon after, they got hitched and had three sons Enrique Jr., Daniel, and Erik. He was about to expose the operation when he was kidnapped on February 7 while he went to have lunch with his wife, Mika. He was one of eight children and was about nine years old when he moved to Calexico, California. In her interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune, Camarena says that, since retiring, she has been able to fully dedicate herself to the foundation, and using the money it receives to offer scholarships to college-bound students. What did you do before you were arrested? In April 2016 I had the first contact with one of his lawyers in Mexico City. Their three children were only aged 11, 6 and 4 at the time. Here's What That Means, Aztecs Falter Late, Boise State Ends Six-Game Win Streak, Nanny Sentenced for Killing 4-Week-Old San Diego Baby She Was Hired to Care For, Fishermen Find Missing Man's Remains Inside Shark's Stomach Off Argentina Coast, More Mysterious Booms' Heard Round San Diego, Brace For More Winter Weather, San Diego. He was raised in California, graduating from Calexico High School in Calexico, California in 1966. Kiki Camarena's son, Enrique Camarena is now a judge in California after serving as a deputy district attorney for years. After about a decade, on February 7th, 1985, Kiki, who was working as an undercover agent for the DEA, infiltrating drug trafficking gangs, was kidnapped and later brutally murdered by Mexican drug traffickers. Alyssa Diaz and Mika Camarena attend the Netflix Original Series Narcos: Mexico, special screening at LA Live in Los Angeles, CA on November 14, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Mika has become a major advocate for drug awareness across the U.S., keeping her late husband's memory alive. I had stomach surgery. I received a plastic bag over my head to suffocate me. I asked what was their motive and all I got was more torture. It organizes various activities and events as a part of it. Published Jul. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. 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, he said, as his former colleagues in the district attorneys office nodded appreciatively along with his family and friends. His boys were 11 (Enrique), 6 (Erik), and 4 (Daniel) at the time of his passing . Like in the show, Gallardo was arrested by Guillermo Gonzalez Calderoni (played by Julio Cesar Cedillo).. A high school friend and congressman in California created what were called Camarena Clubs, and people across the country wore red ribbons to indicate they were rejecting drugs, an effort that drew the support of First Lady Nancy Reagan. 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. The foundations three main programs include placement of memorial Camarena busts, scholarships for high school senior students, and participation in the Red Ribbon campaign. Known to his friends as "Kiki," Special Agent Camarena had been in Mexico for more than four years on the trail of Mexican marijuana and cocaine drug traffickers. In 2020 alone, a total of 34,515 homicides were registered. The only ones who will lose will be us. Enrique Camarena was a DEA special agent who was born in Mexicali, grew up in Calexico, and lost his life while deep undercover in the Guadalajara Cartel one of the biggest marijuana and cocaine drug cartels in Mexico at the time after he was kidnapped, tortured, and found dead almost a month later in La Angostura, Michoacn, Mexico at the age of 37, survived by his wife and three . The foundation was formed in . 4. The documentary tribute to Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena premieres today at 11 a.m. EDT. Enrique S. Camarena Jr. was 11 when members of a narco-trafficking cartel tortured and murdered his father, nicknamed Kiki, in Mexico in February, 1985 -- a tragic milestone in a drug war that still rages on. Since You Can't Go to the Movies, Amazon Prime Brought the Movies to You, Amazon Prime Delivery Is Experiencing Delays in the Wake of Coronavirus, The Best Amazon Prime Shows of 2020, in Case You Needed Another Reason to Stay In. Drug dealers don't blindfold and record interrogations to kill someone. Camarena les . Berrellez was heroic and ended up solving the case. Caro Quintero was one of the primary suppliers of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana to the United States in the late 1970s. Bruce Willis's mom Marlene 'not sure if her son still recognizes her' as 'aggressiveness' creeps in Internet finds . https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/mika-camarena-43123.php. Later on, he was killed while I was in prison. The program has worked with many schools nationwide, sharing Kiki Camarena's story, and the harms of using drugs. Camarena's widow and the mother of his three sons, Mika, told USA Today that she . In 1985, I was practicing law in Texas. Camarena was born in 1947 in Baja California, Mexico.He moved to the United States of America at a young age, but continued to periodically visit his grandmother in Guadalajara.. After completing his education, he served in the U.S. Marines for three years, attaining a rank of Lance Corporal. Camarena and the DEA's investigation into Caro Quintero and the Guadalajara Cartel in the mid-80s was detailed in the hit Netflix show "Narcos: Mexico.". We are helping law enforcement get the word out about drugs to our youth, parents and schools., Kiki Camarenas son, Enrique Camarena is now a judge in California after serving as a deputy district attorney for years. Mika Camarena, whose given name is Geneva Camarena, was high school sweethearts with Kiki. The Amazon Prime series provides the real backstory of what happened to Camarena and why. Camarena Educational Foundation in 2004 exactly for the purpose. Mika Camarena is an American activist and the wife of late Mexican-born American undercover agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Enrique S. 'Kiki' Camarena Salazar, who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by drug cartels in early 1985 while on assignment in Mexico. Send him email. Mika Camarena continues to honor her former husbands legacy through the foundations work. Rafael Caro Quintero walked free while serving a 40-year sentence for the torture-murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985, and has since apparently . Holes had been drilled in his head, his skull had . "My health is terrible. I believe in Sonora, in general, there could be calm, and yes, relief for us, because I believe the disappearances will diminish, said Cecilia Duarte, an activist with a team of volunteer searchers in Sonora who look for the clandestine graves of the disappeared. His family knew that being a Special Agent could be very dangerous. I had come to know several of the DEA agents in Laredo. Mika Camarena lives in her home in Chula Vista, California. A version of this story was first published in Noticias Telemundo. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. There were two pending arrest orders for him as well as an extradition request from the U.S. government. A very short video segment released by the navy showed Caro Quintero his face blurred dressed in jeans, a soaking wet blue shirt and baggy khaki jacket held by both arms by men wearing camfoulage uniforms and carrying assault rifles. Camarena was survived by his widow, Geneva (also known as Mika), and their three children. She worked briefly in the medical insurance field and in a courthouse, before pursuing a career that would last more than 13 years, says The San Diego Union-Tribune. He is telling the story of his father,DEA agent Enrique Camarena and story of #RedRibbonWeek #inspiringyoungminds Thanks for your fathers and your service to our communities .#msasdonaroll pic.twitter.com/2rAEDOOVgM, Principal Serce (@mr_serce) October 23, 2018, He told NBC San Diego of his dad, You know, I think about him every day. Today, Fonseca is on house arrest, and Caro Quintera was "released . Late Friday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed the U.S. government's deep gratitude to Mexican authorities for Caro Quintero's arrest and offered condolences for the Mexican military personnel who died in the helicopter crash. Enrique worked on domestic violence and child abuse cases, after having given his father his word that hed not become a police officer, due to the dangers of the job. Camarena dedicated his life to helping others before he was brutally tortured and killed in . 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