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. All three series tell the story of Kiki Camarena, a 37-year-old DEA agent assigned to work in Mexico during the 1980s. JALISCO, Mexico Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo appeared in a wheelchair in the maximum security area of the Puente Grande state prison, in Jalisco. She has constantly been out in public, creating awareness by talking about eliminating drug abuse and its market. In a talk, she said: When theres no demand, theres no power for the dealers., In an interview, she also spoke of the changes that have come out in the aftermath of her husbands death. Kiki never saw his wife or family again. 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. Now he takes the bench in his father's memory, as NBC 7's Gene Cubbison explains. The available information indicated it suffered an accident, the cause of which had not yet been determined, the statement said. Though she keeps a private Instagram account, her Facebook page has various updates of events from her life. Now . The following are direct excerpts from the Calexico Chronicle's tribute to Dora Camarena Soto. 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 . After his death, she focused on raising her three kids and worked hard as a skin-care consultant. Following Camarena's murder, 37-year-old Mika moved back to California with her three sons. She is pregnant throughout part of the show and living with him in Mexico with their family while his job increases in danger. 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. 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. With President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador's amnesty for inmates over 75 years of age, do you hope to benefit from that measure? Throughout the 1980s, the cartel controlled much of the drug trafficking in Mexico and the corridors along the Mexico-United . In the first episodes of Narcos: Mexico, Kiki Camarena (played by Michael Pena) and Felix Gallardo (played by Diego Luna) are juxtaposed as twin protagonists: One trying to solidify the drug trade and the other trying to stop it in an era when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was still an underappreciated agency headquartered over a strip club. The bottom line: Gallardo went way too far by targeting Camarena. 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. We did not meet on the street. Flix Gallardo: I was in a house in Cosmos in Guadalajara when they knocked down the door, without any arrest warrant, without any search warrant. During his time in Mexico, Camarena came dangerously close to exposing top leaders of a multi-billion dollar drug pipeline in the country. Camarena was also the father of three sons. The Times noted that the bodies appeared to have been tortured and were found near a ranch in Michoacan state. On the other hand, Enrique has proudly followed his fathers footsteps. Mika Camarena, whose given name is Geneva Camarena, was high school sweethearts with Kiki. He would spend four years pursuing the cartel and sharing intel with the DEA much of which was dramatized on the Netflix show, Narcos but his life came to an untimely end when he was kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. The CIA has denied the allegations. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. The couple had lived there for four years because of his work for the DEA, which involved trailing Mexican marijuana and cocaine drug traffickers. In 2020 alone, a total of 34,515 homicides were registered. And I'm going to be serving my county, serving this community in a different way.". She has constantly been out in public, creating awareness by talking about eliminating drug abuse and its market. Are you asking me why I am granting you the interview? Kikis kids are all grown up. . This is the first interview that Flix Gallardo has granted during his sentence. In an interview with Frontline, Calderoni gave a play-by-play of the high-stakes arrest, which went far less dramatically in . 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. "My health is terrible. Mika, who serves as the president of the organization, often took part in talks about drug awareness in schools and communities nationwide despite her longtime job as a skin-care consultant. 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. 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. Who was the real Kiki Camarena? ", But, Duarte said, Caro Quintero is only part (of the conflict), the conflict doesn't end.. A locked padlock CIA killed Kiki. According to The San Diego Union Tribune, the couple met at Calexico High School in Calexico, California, and became high-school sweethearts. Flix Gallardo: No. Kiki and his wife Mika are pictured here on their wedding day. Dora Camarena Soto was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, and had moved with her family to Mexicali when she was just 7 days old. Mika Camarena, wife of slain DEA Agent Enrique Camarena, with DEA San Diego at Camarena Elementary, #redribbonweek pic.twitter.com/5XYAfwsoTP, DEASanDiego (@DEASANDIEGODiv) October 27, 2016, Mika worked as a skincare consultant in the years after the incident. 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. The foundations major goal is to make the country free of illegal drugs. A television series recently detailed your life and portrayed you as a drug trafficker, as the cocaine czar for having opened the coca routes from South America to the United States and dealings with Pablo Escobar. Infamous drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985, was captured Friday by Mexican forces nearly a decade after walking out of a Mexican prison and returning to drug trafficking, according to the Mexico's navy. . Kiki Camarena was born Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena on July 26, 1947, in Mexicali, Mexico. He blamed Camarena for a raid on a marijuana plantation in 1984. After completing her studies, Mika Camarena began working as a medical insurance clerk for a doctor in Calexico. Camarena is pictured here in his high school basketball uniform. They were mostly guys in their early 30s who had joined the DEA with the patriotic aim of winning the war on drugs. According to the DEA and multiple investigators, Flix Gallardo, along with Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero, founded the organization the DEA would name the Guadalajara cartel. And sure enough, thats what happened. He is giving pensions. The story of Camarena's kidnapping and subsequent grisly death at the hands of a Mexican drug cartel was most recently brought to viewers via the wildly popular Netflix original series "Narcos . Because of this, he was scheduled to be moved to another assignment in 1985. You may have seen his story memorialized on the first season o. 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. 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. Warning: Because the real story so closely tracks the fictional one, this article will contain spoilers for Narcos: Mexico. The Camarena murder never made any sense to me. 4. And so for me, its still a little bit about the legacy of duty. In a candid interview with the San Diego Tribune, Mika was asked if she ever imagined this happening and knew of the dangers involved in Camarenas day-to-day work life. 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 . The Amazon Prime series provides the real backstory of what happened to Camarena and why. There had been tensions between the Mexican government and the DEA after Mexico enacted a law limiting the U.S. agency's operations. Quite the opposite, I hope he succeeds. But after Berrellez figured out what was really going on, he was taken off the case. Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo: Im not going to talk about because they've treated us poorly. Son, Brother, Husband, Father, US Marine, DEA Agent. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He eventually became one of the godfathers of Mexican drug trafficking. B-roll footage. In season 2, an enraged DEA jacks up its efforts to dismantle the cartel and get cartel figures to prosecution, even going so far as abducting a doctor accused of being affiliated with the cartel and assisting in Camarenas death. I think of my grandchildren. 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. 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. Later on, he was killed while I was in prison. 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. Powered by. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. But I knew, she shares. I did not participate in such an act [Camarena's murder]. 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. So, where are they now? Today, she lives in Chula Vista. One of those hundreds of agents was DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Send him email. Amazon Primes The Last Narc traces the events after Kikis death as a dogged DEA agent uncovers the shocking truth and the murky conspiracy that links the blood-soaked drug wars in Mexico to the corridors of power in Washington. Ten of the informants were eyewitnesses to the kidnapping and murder of Kiki Camarena. I have been in meetings with the foreign minister and with the security Cabinet, along with all our agencies that have included the new head of the DEA sitting at my right hand, Salazar said. And thats what Ive been doing up until yesterday. A family photo featuring their three sons -- Enrique, Daniel, and Eric. Camarena was abducted by corrupt officers on behalf of the cartel in Guadalajara, Mexico, in February 1985. Mika Camarena serves as the President of the foundation, whereas her son, Enrique Kiki Camarena Jr., serves as the Vice President of Civic and Business Affairs. It shows that she is in a relationship with Ricardo, who, according to one of her comments, works at a Ford Agency. He was very concerned about the drug problem in this country, and wanted to make a difference by helping the people that he cared about. 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. 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. Now, schools in Chula Vista and Calexico Camarenas hometown bear his name. All rights reserved, Ed Sheeran Shares His Wife Had a Tumor During Pregnancy, Oleato': Starbucks' Olive Oil-Infused Drinks Spark Curiosity in Italy, Next Winter Storm May Bring Even More Snow to NYC Area This Week: What to Know. Today, Fonseca is on house arrest, and Caro Quintera was "released . I'm not aware why they've linked me to that crime. He, that person you're mentioning,I was never in Medelln or Cali, as the series says. She should feel relieved that the culprits are serving time. However, she recently received unprecedented media attention after Netflix produced the crime-drama series 'Narcos: Mexico' in 2018, which depicted the tragic story of her husband. The non-profit enlists the help of retired DEA agents and Mikas oldest son, Enrique. One of the men threw a jacket over Kiki's head, and the driver sped away. NARCOS: MEXICO Official Trailer "Agent Kiki Camarena" (HD) Michael Pena Series, SUBSCRIBE for more TV Trailers HERE: goo.gl/TL21HZ He gave his life for his work. In an. Since her husband's death, she has become an activist and advocates drug awareness among the youth. Would you say something to Agent Camarenas widow? This doesnt seem to have stopped her as she went ahead to form the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation in 2004. 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. 'Narcos: Mexico' tells the story of real-life DEA agent Kiki Camarena, who was abducted in Guadalajara in the 1980s. After he graduated from high school, he joined the Marine Corps. "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 . 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