Kiki Camarena: Murder case explained by DEA agent
The death of Enrique Kiki Camerena, a DEA intelligence officer who was reportedly murdered by the alleged drug lord in 1985, was brought back into the spotlight by American officials on July 15, 2022 after alleged Guadalajara cartel founder Rafael Caro Quintero had been arrested.
A Mexican court freed Rafael Caro Quintero in 2013 after serving 28 of 40 years in prison for Camerena’s murder. Quintero had already left the country when the Mexican Supreme Court overturned this ruling.
According to Garland, there is no safe haven for anyone kidnapping, torturing, or killing American law enforcement officials Assassination of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
Rafael Caro Quintero’s arrest is significant because it shows the attitude that both Mexican and American authorities will take toward drug traffickers, even after authorities have acknowledged that he no longer has the same level of control over the Mexican underworld like in old times.
Quintero was arrested by Mexican law enforcement and Marines, and US Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement thanking them for their efforts. Quintero will likely be extradited to the US.
One of the men long on the most wanted list for the 1985 kidnapping and murder of DEA agent Kiki Camarena has been arrested by Mexican authorities.
“Anyone kidnapping, imprisoning and killing members of the American law enforcement community has nowhere to hide. The arrest and detention of Rafael Caro Quintero by the Mexican authorities is greatly appreciated.”
The Guadalajara cartel viewed Enqrique Kiki Camerena, who was murdered in 1985 at the age of 37, as an adversary for gathering information that led to raids and arrests against members of the criminal gang.
Why was Kiki Camerena the target of Rafael Caro Quintero?
According to CNN, the Guadalajara cartel attacked Kiki Camerena after he began investigating her extensive marijuana crops in the early 1980s.
In 1982, Camerena and “Miguel Sanchez,” a law enforcement informant, made one of the greatest discoveries of all time: a 200-acre marijuana crop. He then informed the Mexican authorities, who stated that more than 4000 tons of marijuana were destroyed during the raid.
Camarena became the target of Rafael Caro Quintero after it was revealed in El Diario de Juarez in 1984 that he was involved in another significant heist. Camarena provided Mexican officials with information that led to the raid of a 2,500-acre marijuana plantation that is estimated to bring in $8 million annually.
Kiki Camarena was eventually taken hostage, allegedly on the orders of Rafael Caro Quintero, according to the Mexican Gulf Reporter. According to the source, Camarena may have been arrested by dishonest Mexican officials collaborating with the Guadalajara cartel.
The DAE agent’s body was found on March 5, 1985. According to autopsy reports, he may have been tortured with ice picks and iron bars for more than 30 hours. Quintero and other high-level cartel accomplices were arrested as a result of an aggressive large-scale action by American authorities against the Guadalajara cartel.
According to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, one of the main reasons American authorities have been so persistent in pursuing Quintero, whose organization is in severe decline, is Camarena’s murder.