After his discharge, he briefly had a stint working as a fireman before . She graduated from Imperial Valley . During his time in Mexico, Camarena came dangerously close to exposing top leaders of a multi-billion dollar drug pipeline in the country. All three series tell the story of Kiki Camarena, a 37-year-old DEA agent assigned to work in Mexico during the 1980s. His mother even tried to talk him out of it. 1985 - Camarena's Death. But I knew, she shares. Former deputy public defenders Matthew Braner and Selena Eply get their robes Monday and Tuesday, respectively. And sure enough, thats what happened. Camarena poses with Mexican law enforcement. Geneva 'Mika' Camarena was born in 1948 near Fresno, California, and was raised in Calexico, a city in Imperial County, California. In 1985, Camarena was kidnapped, brutally tortured, and then executed. Camarena dedicated his life to helping others before he was brutally tortured and killed in . Take out your list of movies to watch and place The Last Narc at the top of your list. The case is thus, believed to be undergoing another investigation, that may bring more shocking results. The DEA Museum presents: "Remembering Kiki: Through the Eyes of his Family, Friends, & Colleagues". He next served two years in the Marines, following which he became a special agent for the DEA. I'm not hoping. 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. On the day of his abduction, Camarena was supposed to meet up with his wife, but she would never see him again. I am not thinking of freedom. She continues her mission to combat the societal effects of drugs in her late husband's honor. I never met him. Mika met Kiki Camarena in high school, and that is where the two fell in love. Who was the real Kiki Camarena? She was educated at Calexico High School and later attended Imperial Valley College. These people and I have never chatted. He blamed Camarena for a raid on a marijuana plantation in 1984. The money goes toward scholarships. However, she grew up in Calexico. Mika Camarena was born in Fresno in the year 1948. She told the newspaper, Since retiring as a skin-care consultant, I can spend more time as president of the foundation. He told me very little because he didnt want me to worry. Camarena's widow and the mother of his three sons, Mika, told USA Today that she . It took five years and four months to face him. Copyright 2023 Distractify. Enrique is now a deputy district attorney. A family photo featuring their three sons -- Enrique, Daniel, and Eric. She presides over the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation set up in 2004. 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. Similarly, some songs would remind her of her late sons Kiki Camarena and firstborn Eduardo "Lalo" Camarena, who enlisted in the U.S. Army and was . This is the first interview that Flix Gallardo has granted during his sentence. Let me reiterate: I'm not into weapons. Flix Gallardo: I never met that person. Camarena was abducted by corrupt officers on behalf of the cartel in Guadalajara, Mexico, in February 1985. That will get you better set for watching The Last Narc. Some activists have been threatened and even killed in Sonora amid Caro Quinteros turf wars with the sons of "El Chapo. After seeing Caro Quintero walk out of a Mexican prison once already, Vigil said he hopes the government won't risk a repeat Guzman twice escaped from Mexican maximum security prisons and would agree to a likely U.S. extradition request. 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. "The CIA ordered the kidnapping and torture of 'Kiki' Camarena, and when they killed him, they made us believe it was Caro Quintero in order to cover up all the illegal things they were doing . Lock ", But, Duarte said, Caro Quintero is only part (of the conflict), the conflict doesn't end.. Until his capture last week, the 69-year-old Caro Quintero was the Drug Enforcement Administration's most wanted man, accused of killing DEA agent Kiki Camarena in 1985 and then resuming a drug . Ambassador Ken Salazar told a gathering of reporters there had been progress in the security relationship. His name is still seen on T-shirts. My family is digging a grave so that I may be buried next to a tree. 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. Camarena opens the show in a scene that shows hes been abducted. Warning: Because the real story so closely tracks the fictional one, this article will contain spoilers for Narcos: Mexico. Flix Gallardo: As the honest person that I always was, a man who wasn't into weapons. At the time, he spoke about how his father would have been proud of the achievement. They don't let us have visitors, no phone booths, no lawyers. The son of a heroic DEA agent slain in the line of duty nearly three decades ago took his oath of office to become the newest San Diego Superior Court judge Thursday, following his father's "legacy of duty.". Now . Brown was sworn in. 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. I had stomach surgery. Camarena is pictured here in his high school basketball uniform. In an. In an interview with Frontline, Calderoni gave a play-by-play of the high-stakes arrest, which went far less dramatically in . 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. Flix Gallardo: It is a very sad subject. The implosion of Guadalajara led to the rise of the Sinaloa cartel, led by Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, who is now in U.S. custody. The only ones who will lose will be us. Michael Pea plays DEA Agent Enrique Kiki Camarena in Season 1 of Narcos: Mexico. He was added to the FBIs top 10 most wanted list in 2018. I also owned some drugstores and two old hotels. Though she keeps a private Instagram account, her Facebook page has various updates of events from her life. Hes been in custody since 1989, however. Unfortunately, he was brutally murdered on the job in Mexico in 1985 by the Guadalajara Cartel, per theDEA. But if you just want to watch The Last Narc only, that is sufficient. Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, had since returned to drug trafficking and unleashed bloody turf battles in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora. How do you see the situation of violence in the country? Despite the War on Drugs launching in the 1970s, it didn't hit full steam until the '80s. That never happened. The show, in both seasons 1 and 2, traces the growth of the drug trade, moving the series setting from Colombia to Guadalajara, Mexico. It organizes various activities and events as a part of it. 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. They were mostly guys in their early 30s who had joined the DEA with the patriotic aim of winning the war on drugs. His tortured body was found a month later. Im talking about who you are as a person. All Rights Reserved. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Soon after high school, Camarena joined the Marines. in order to understand why the drug war continues today, they had to trace . He worked locally. The CIA has denied the allegations. The Reagan Administration predictably freaked out and exercised its power. You were sentenced to almost 40 years in prison for the murder of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. 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. This Mr. Camarena, whoever they were, whoever did it, the perpetrators and masterminds are behind bars; they've paid with their lives in prison, and they've had a very rough time. His left arm was in a cast because he fell a few weeks ago. However, Enriques moment to shine truly came in 2014, when he was sworn in as the latest San Diego Superior Court judge. After the death of Kiki Camarena, his wife Mika Camarena became involved in a number of social and charitable initiatives in order to preserve and promote the sacrifices made by him. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. They were high school sweethearts and continued their relationship after he began working as a firefighter and then joined the police in Calexico. You can read about him here. There had been tensions between the Mexican government and the DEA after Mexico enacted a law limiting the U.S. agency's operations. In reality, Kiki Camarena died in 1985, having been abducted by unidentified men in February 1985 while he was on his way to his wife Mika for lunch. He was a Marine. He went on to serve as the deputy district attorney in the Office of the District Attorney of San Diego from 1999 to 2014. Mika Camarena lives in her home in Chula Vista, California. Bruce Willis's mom Marlene 'not sure if her son still recognizes her' as 'aggressiveness' creeps in Internet finds . He blamed Camarena for a raid on a marijuana plantation in 1984. 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. 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. He was on the FBIs most wanted list, with a $20 million reward for his capture through the State Departments Narcotics Rewards Program. "You know, I think about him every day, Camarena Jr. And so for me, it's still a little bit about the legacy of duty. Uno de ellos, Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena lleg a Guadalajara, Mxico, en 1980, cuando el Crtel de Guadalajara comenzaba a prosperar transportando la cocana que llegaba de Colombia. This doesnt seem to have stopped her as she went ahead to form the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation in 2004. 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. We did not meet on the street. A retired skin care consultant, Mika now focuses even more of her time on running the foundation. Biography [] Early life []. Eventually the cartel's kingpin, Rafael Caro Quintero, and more than two dozen others were convicted in U.S. and Mexican courts -- Caro Quintero's release last year sparking outrage and a new arrest warrant. 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. He spent 28 years in prison . 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. In April 2016 I had the first contact with one of his lawyers in Mexico City. 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. He has lost vision in one of his eyes and is deaf in his left ear. Camarena said, You know, I think about him every day. 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 . Gallardo was arrested on charges of racketeering, drug smuggling, violent crimes, and the murder of DEA agent Kiki Camarena, and sentenced to 40 years in prison. The Times noted that the bodies appeared to have been tortured and were found near a ranch in Michoacan state. 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. The men in question were working under the orders of the big wigs of the Guadalajara cartel. He spent four years in Mexico tracking the countrys drug dealers (the drugs of choice were marijuana and cocaine back then.). Dora Camarena Soto was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, and had moved with her family to Mexicali when she was just 7 days old. It has been some time since the valiant agent passed away, and his body was discovered in 1985. Enrique "Kiki" Camarena was kidnapped and murdered in 1985, leading to a major escalation in the war on drugs. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 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. They messed up my eyesight. Camarena served in the Marines for two years, was a firefighter and police officer and deputy sheriff in California, and then joined the DEA in 1974. She went on to raise her three boys alone. It shows that she is in a relationship with Ricardo, who, according to one of her comments, works at a Ford Agency. Mika moved back to California from Mexico with her sons following Camarenas death. Image source. 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. Meet Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. In the process, youll see why the drug war is so utterly corrupt and why there are people who have a vested interest in seeing that it continues. Amazon Prime's 'The Last Narc' details the horrific account of DEA agent Enrique S "Kiki" Camarena Salazar's abduction and murder by the Mexican drug lords at Guadalajara and the ensuing investigation that followed. We are deeply grateful to Mexican authorities for their capture and arrest . The non-profit enlists the help of retired DEA agents and Mika's oldest son, Enrique. On the other hand, Enrique has proudly followed his fathers footsteps. In Sonora, one of the state's hit hardest by Caro Quintero's efforts to reclaim his territory, there was a hope his arrest could help. She also says that Camarena is always on her mind. LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 14: Michael Pena (Enrique 'Kiki" Camarena) and Tenoch Huerta (Rafael Caro Quintero) attend Netflix's 'Narcos: Mexico' Season 1 Premiere at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live. In 2019, the Mexican government increased the number of people who have disappearedduring the war on drug trafficking to60,053. The non-profit enlists the help of retired DEA agents and Mikas oldest son, Enrique. His family knew that being a Special Agent could be very dangerous. 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. Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo (born January 8, 1946), commonly referred to by his aliases El Jefe de Jefes ("The Boss of Bosses") and El Padrino ("The Godfather"), is a convicted Mexican drug lord.He was one of the founders of the Guadalajara Cartel in the 1970s. Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar (July 26, 1947 - February 9, 1985) was an American intelligence officer for the United States (DEA). She, Mika Camarena lives in her home in Chula Vista, California. 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