Following Camarena's murder, 37-year-old Mika moved back to California with her three sons. Amazingly, Gallardo was only recently sentenced in the death (hed been sentenced before but a retrial was ordered; he never left prison after 1989, though). In 1981, the entire Camarena family left Fresno, California for Guadalajara, Mexico where Camarena was assigned. Kiki found out about the connection between the CIA and contra fighters same way how Gary Webb publicized it, and somehow was found with 2 gunshots to his head as a . She dedicates her time to promoting drug awareness in schools and communities nationwide.. The murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena in 1985 is being further investigated. And if the cop or the judge happen to be U.S. federal agents or a federal judge, youre going to have the full force of the U.S. government being brought to bear on you. The DEA often liken Agent Kiki Camarena to Jesus Christ. 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. The previous seasons focused on the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar and the Cali Cartel. However, one rarely stops to wonder about the personal cost of the agents death to his family. Thats the way that Camarena comes across in all three of these series. JALISCO, Mexico Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo appeared in a wheelchair in the maximum security area of the Puente Grande state prison, in Jalisco. His death stunned the nation and forever changed the war. This doesnt seem to have stopped her as she went ahead to form the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation in 2004. Now he takes the bench in his father's memory, as NBC 7's Gene Cubbison explains. In various judicial and academic investigations, Flix Gallardo was closely linked to the beginning of the large drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. I know that the president is a man of goodwill. 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. In an interview with Frontline, Calderoni gave a play-by-play of the high-stakes arrest, which went far less dramatically in . Was he really abducted? 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. Flix Gallardo: Since I havent made a mistake, I have nothing to repent. 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 . He was one of eight children and was about nine years old when he moved to Calexico, California. Enrique "Kiki" Camarena was a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, abducted off the street in Guadalajara while serving in Mexico, tortured and killed. During her talks, she often mentions that Red Ribbon Week should be celebrated all year round to increase awareness about drugs. Mika Camarena continues to honor her former husbands legacy through the foundations work. 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 wife, Geneva 'Mika' Camarena, lost her husband at the age of 36, when the two were in their prime, raising their family of three children. Soon after high school, Camarena joined the Marines. Caro Quintero was from Badiraguato, Sinaloa, the same area as Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, the former Sinaloa cartel leader now serving a life sentence in the United States. Full Context. Enrique "Kiki" Camarena was kidnapped and murdered in 1985, leading to a major escalation in the war on drugs. Distractify is a registered trademark. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. The Amazon Prime series provides the real backstory of what happened to Camarena and why. 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. 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. The foundation was formed in . During an interview in 2010, 25 years after his death, she was asked about which day she observes as the death anniversary of her husband, considering that he went missing on February 7th and his body was recovered on March 5th, she mentioned that while she remembers him each and every day, February 7th, 1985 was the last day she saw her. Cartels have never existed in Guadalajara. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. "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. DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, seen here with his wife Mika, was kidnapped and killed by orders of the Guadalajara Cartel. "There is no hiding place for anyone who kidnaps, tortures, and murders American law enforcement. Now, schools in Chula Vista and Calexico Camarenas hometown bear his name. Registered as a Republican, Camarenas job and family history has naturally solidified his anti-drugs stance. And I'm going to be serving my county, serving this community in a different way.". Mika has become a major advocate for drug awareness across the U.S., keeping her late husband's memory alive. Who was the real Kiki Camarena? in order to understand why the drug war continues today, they had to trace . Ernesto Don Neto Fonseca and Rafael Caro Quintero were other cartel leaders involved. It was an afternoon, at the beginning of August, and he was coming from the prisons medical ward. Camarena was also the father of three sons. According to The Los Angeles Times, Camarenas murder led to the fall of Gallardo and his close associates and the fracturing of their cartel. Unfortunately, he was brutally murdered on the job in Mexico in 1985 by the Guadalajara Cartel, per theDEA. Camarena Educational Foundation in 2004 exactly for the purpose. Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. Those last two conditions made the interview a bit difficult, so we had to write the questions on a poster board for him to read. Check out our most popular TV PLAYLISTS: LATEST TV SHOW TRAILERS: goo.gl/rvKCPb SUPERHERO/COMIC BOOK TV TRAILERS: goo.gl/r8eLH6 NETFLIX TV TRAILERS: goo.gl/dbO463 HBO. His boys were 11 (Enrique), 6 (Erik), and 4 (Daniel) at the time of his passing, and Mika was left a widow at the age of 37. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Mika Camarena meets with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. All Rights Reserved. Former deputy public defenders Matthew Braner and Selena Eply get their robes Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Kidnapped February 7, 1985 and tortured and subsequently Murdered within 2 Not much is known about Erik or Daniel. The Reagan Administration predictably freaked out and exercised its power. My parents were the first to export legumes to the United States in 1942. And Im going to be serving my county, serving this community in a different way., Kiki Camarena spent three years in Calexico for the DEA before he was assigned to the agencys Fresno office and then to Mexico, where he worked out of its office in Guadalajara. Netflix Michael Pea as Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 'Narcos: Mexico.'. I never met that man. Narcos: Mexico shows the growth of the Guadalajara Cartel, pieced together by Felix Gallardo out of warring factions. Her husband, Kiki Camarena became a DEA agent after he served as a police officer for several years. November 16, only on Netflix. Camarena said, You know, I think about him every day. Today, her six living children, all daughters, enjoy professional careers in the public sector and are employed with various federal and state agencies throughout the state and region. At the time, he spoke about how his father would have been proud of the achievement. 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. An appeals court overturned Caro Quinteros verdict in 2013, but the Supreme Court upheld the sentence. She has constantly been out in public, creating awareness by talking about eliminating drug abuse and its market. 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. Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. When Kiki was abducted in Mexico, he was tortured and brutally murdered by drug traffickers. We didnt see a lot of effort (to capture Caro Quintero) in the last several years, especially when (Lpez Obrador) came in and immediately started to dismantle a lot of the infrastructure and the bilateral relationships between the U.S. and Mexico relative to drug trafficking, Vigil said. 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 . U.S. military personnel carry the coffin containing the body of DEA agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena following his 1985 murder Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo was one of the Guadalajara Cartel's three founders 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. I'm not aware why they've linked me to that crime. Lock It was his end, and his new cartels end, and it was El Chapos beginning (the eventual drug lord is first seen in the beginning of Narcos: Mexico in all his humble beginnings as a driver for a Sinaloan drug lord). Each year, on October 23-31, more than 80 million . A family photo featuring their three sons -- Enrique, Daniel, and Eric. The Netflix series Narcos: Mexico centers around a Mexican drug cartels murder and torture of Kiki Camarena, a federal narcotics agent for the United States. The proceeds from the sales are used to sponsor six scholarships to high school students throughout the nation each year. Flix Gallardo: I'm not expecting that. The DEA also kept her informed about the developments regarding punishing the people responsible for Kiki's death. "That's a lifetime for a man who didn't commit a crime.". 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. Three leaders of the Guadalajara drug cartel were eventually convicted in Mexico for Camarena's murder. Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. The DEA Museum's documentary tribute to Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, hosted by Curator of Education Josh Edmundson, features never-before-seen interviews honoring the man whose death inspired the creation of Red Ribbon Week. 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. The first question was why, after so many years, he had decided to grant an interview. A retired skin care consultant, Mika now focuses even more of her time on running the foundation. 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. I did not participate in such an act [Camarena's murder]. The non-profit enlists the help of retired DEA agents and Mika's oldest son, Enrique. There was my daughter, my son. What relationship did you have with Caro Quintero and Fonseca Carrillo? Mika met Kiki Camarena in high school, and that is where the two fell in love. The four-part series, released in July, tells the true story of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a special agent with the DEA, who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1985. 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