investigations | January 17, 2026

Where Is Kiki Camarena Buried? – Celebrity

Kiki Camarena, The DEA Agent Killed For Infiltrating A Mexican Cartel Inside The Brave Life And Horrifying Death Of Undercover DEA Agent Kiki Camarena After Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was found out by the Guadalajara cartel in 1985, he was kidnapped and tortured to death over the course of three days.

Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Salazar (July 26, 1947 – February 9, 1985) was an American intelligence officer for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In February 1985 Camarena was kidnapped by drug traffickers hired by Mexican politicians in Guadalajara, Mexico.

After Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was found out by the Guadalajara cartel in 1985, he was kidnapped and tortured to death over the course of three days.

The two were in a decomposed state and showed signs of brutalization. The bodies were found wrapped in plastic, riddled with bullets, with blunt head injuries. It was later determined that Camarena was tortured before his death.

Where was Camarena kidnapped?

In February 1985 Camarena was kidnapped by drug traffickers in Guadalajara, Mexico. He was interrogated under torture and murdered. Three leaders of the Guadalajara drug cartel were eventually convicted in Mexico for Camarena’s murder.

After graduating from high school, Camarena joined the Marines. Following his discharge in 1970, he returned to Calexico and joined the police department. From regular police work, he moved on to undercover narcotics work as a Special Agent on the Imperial County Narcotic Task Force (ICNTF).

Camarena received numerous awards while with the DEA, and he posthumously received the Administrator’s Award of Honor, the highest award given by the organization. In Fresno, the California Narcotic Officers’ Association (CNOA) hosts a yearly memorial golf tournament named after him and presents an annual scholarship to graduating high school seniors. A school, a library and a street in his home town of Calexico, California, are named after him. Enrique Camarena Junior High School of the Calexico Unified School District opened in 2006. Additionally Enrique Camarena Elementary School in Mission, Texas, of the La Joya Independent School District, is named after him and had its dedication ceremony in 2006. The nationwide annual Red Ribbon Week, which teaches school children and youths to avoid drug use, was established in his memory.

Investigation. Camarena’s torture and murder prompted a swift reaction from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and launched Operation Leyenda (legend), the largest DEA homicide investigation ever undertaken.

Enrique Camarena Junior High School of the Calexico Unified School District opened in 2006. Additionally Enrique Camarena Elementary School in Mission, Texas, of the La Joya Independent School District, is named after him and had its dedication ceremony in 2006.

Enrique Camarena was born on July 26, 1947, in the impoverished border town of Mexicali, Mexico. The family—three brothers and three sisters—immigrated to Calexico, California, when Camarena was a child. Camarena’s parents divorced when he was young and the family endured considerable poverty after their move. His oldest brother Eduardo joined the Marines and was killed while serving in Vietnam in 1965. His other brother Ernesto had a troubled police record, including drug problems. Despite the family’s difficulties, Camarena graduated from Calexico High School in 1966.

Kiki Camarena. In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Camarena and the second or maternal family name is Salazar. Enrique “Kiki” Camarena Salazar (July 26, 1947 – February 9, 1985) was an American intelligence officer for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In February 1985 Camarena was kidnapped by drug …

Where was Kiki Camarena’s body found?

A month after his abduction, the body of special agent Kiki Camarena was found by the DEA 70 miles outside of Guadalajara, Mexico.

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As a result, cartel leaders Felix Gallardo and Rafael Caro Quintero received most of the blame for Kiki Camarena’s death. Quintero received a 40-year prison sentence, but he only served 28 years when he got out on a legal technicality. Still wanted by U.S. authorities today, Quintero has since disappeared.

Kiki Camarena’s sacrifice in the War on Drugs did not go unnoticed. In 1988, just as an investigation into his murder was kicking off, TIME magazine put him on their cover. He received many awards while working in the DEA and he posthumously received the Administrator’s Award of Honor, the highest award given by the organization.

On Feb. 7, 1985, a group of armed men abducted DEA agent Kiki Camarena in broad daylight as he left the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico, to meet his wife for lunch. Outnumbered and outgunned, Camarena didn’t fight as the men escorted him into a van. It was the last day anyone would see him alive again.

In 1981, the DEA sent Camarena to Guadalajara, Mexico, after stints in Calexico and Fresno, California.

justthinktwice.gov DEA Special Agent Kiki Camarena with his wife, Geneva “Mika” Camarena, and two of their sons.

Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was born into a large Mexican family on July 26, 1947, in Mexicali, Mexico. He was one of eight children and he was around nine years old when he moved to Calexico, California. YouTube. Netflix introduces actor Michael Peña as Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena in season one of Narcos: Mexico..

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