Unpublished Stories About Kiki Camarena: The Fall of Rafael Caro Quintero

In the anti-terrorism civil lawsuit against Rafael Caro Quintero and other drug traffickers, the wife of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena recounts that he was brutally beaten while working undercover shortly after joining the agency in his hometown of Calexico, California; eleven years later, he was murdered in Mexico.

Enrique Camarena was brutally beaten while working as an undercover DEA agent in Calexico, California, a decade before his murder in Mexico. His wife Geneva A., known as “Mika,” recounts that after the beating, Kiki suffered fractures in several ribs and one thumb.

“Kiki realized the dangers of being an undercover DEA agent shortly after joining. One night, three or four people who knew Kiki was DEA recognized him while he was working undercover. They proceeded to beat him brutally, breaking several ribs and a thumb,” Mika states in the text of the civil lawsuit she and her family filed against Rafael Caro Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo, Miguel Félix Gallardo, and the Sinaloa Cartel, who are identified as being responsible for Camarena’s murder.

After the assault, the DEA transferred Kiki to Fresno, California, and later he requested a transfer to Guadalajara, Mexico, where he moved with his two sons, Enrique Jr. and Daniel, and his wife Mika, who was pregnant with Erik. It was in Guadalajara where he was kidnapped on February 7, 1985, and his body was found on March 5 of the same year, along with the body of pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar.

With the lawsuit based on the Anti-Terrorism Act, filed by Mika, her children, and Kiki Camarena’s sisters this past March in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, they are seeking damages from the defendants and the Sinaloa Cartel, which they claim formerly operated as the Mexican Federation and the Guadalajara Cartel.

The 40-page document details Kiki Camarena’s beginnings in the DEA, the investigations into his abduction and murder, the profiles of the alleged perpetrators, and how his death changed the lives of his family.

When Kiki Was Kidnapped, Hell Began

The story: Kiki Camarena and Mika met in De Anza High School in Calexico, California. They started dating in high school and married in 1970. Between 1969 and 1971, Enrique served as a Marine, and after his military service, he joined the Calexico Police Department, later joining the DEA in 1974.

Kiki’s first assignment as a DEA agent was in his hometown, Calexico. After being beaten in the mid-1970s, he was transferred to Fresno. Later, he requested to be assigned to Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved there with his two children and pregnant wife.

In Guadalajara, Kiki worked undercover with pilot Alfredo Zavala Avelar to investigate marijuana cultivation operations. Between 1983 and 1984, they conducted surveillance flights throughout central and northern Mexico.

In November 1984, U.S. and Mexican authorities raided a marijuana plantation owned by Rafael Caro Quintero in northern Chihuahua, seizing and destroying marijuana valued at approximately $5 billion.

Mexican accomplices later testified that Caro Quintero found out about Kiki and Zavala Avelar’s aerial surveillance and swore to take revenge.

At the time, Mika had no idea what her husband was investigating. He never spoke about his work. Only once, when she told him, “I prayed for you today,” and he replied, “I’m glad you did,” did she get a sense of the danger he was in.

The Kidnapping

On February 7, 1985, Kiki was driving to meet his wife at a Chinese restaurant. As he passed by the DEA offices at the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, five men intercepted him. One showed an ID from the Federal Security Directorate and told him that the commander wanted to speak with him. Kiki refused, but was forced into the back seat of a small car and taken to a house on Lope de Vega 881, allegedly owned by Rafael Caro Quintero.

That same afternoon, the Guadalajara Cartel also kidnapped Zavala Avelar near the Guadalajara airport and took him to the same location. Both were interrogated and tortured for over 30 hours.

When Kiki didn’t arrive at the restaurant, Mika assumed he was working late. She ate alone and returned home, put her kids to bed, and didn’t realize he was missing until the next day.

Mika called Kiki’s colleague to ask if he knew where he was. The agent replied with a question:

“Did Kiki go to lunch with you?”

“Fear and terror overwhelmed Mika upon realizing that her husband had disappeared and that the DEA had no idea where he was,” the lawsuit reads.

The DEA then launched an extensive search. Meanwhile, Mika and her children were confined to their home under constant protection by U.S. and Mexican authorities, who stationed agents inside and outside the house. They waited anxiously by the phone for a ransom call that never came.

“Mika feared for her husband’s safety and for her family. To protect her children, she sent them to San Diego to stay with her sister. Things had become so dangerous that the children couldn’t even walk from the front door to the armored vehicles waiting to take them to the airport. They weren’t even allowed to climb the stairs of the private plane waiting at a secure airstrip. DEA agents carried them out of the house in their arms—like footballs—ran to the armored vehicles, and rushed them to safety.”

“The armored vehicles sped away with a fully armed police escort to a secure airfield. Once at the airstrip, agents again carried the children to the plane. After about a week separated from her kids, and encouraged by law enforcement, Mika flew to the U.S. to reunite with them. From that moment on, every aspect of her and her children’s lives was controlled and managed by the DEA.”

The Bad News

On March 5, 1985, nearly a month after the kidnapping, Mika was informed that Kiki’s body had been found and that he had been tortured and murdered.

“The pain and trauma Mika experienced only worsened because she had to tell her children (ages 11, 6, and 4) that their father would not be coming home. Although she did everything possible to protect them, the situation became increasingly painful and difficult, because everyone knew who they were and wanted to talk to them about the kidnapping and murder.”

“One day after school, one of the children came home crying with a copy of Time magazine, asking: ‘Mom, is it true?’ Kiki Camarena’s photo was on the cover, and the article detailed his abduction and death.”

The lawsuit outlines the long-term physical and psychological impact the kidnapping and murder had on the entire family, effects that continue to this day.

“Three months before the kidnapping, as Kiki tucked in Enrique Jr., he asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. Enrique Jr. proudly replied, ‘I want to be you.’ After that, Kiki became more serious. He told Enrique Jr. that the job was ‘too dangerous’ and wouldn’t let him sleep until he promised never to join law enforcement. Enrique Jr. kept that promise.”

On March 8, 1985, Enrique Jr. accompanied Mika to receive his father’s body at the VIP Air Terminal at North Island, San Diego.

“A U.S. Marine band, an 18-man honor guard, and dozens of federal agents—all wearing a black mourning band diagonally across the badge on their chest—were there to receive the plane.”

“President Ronald Reagan personally called Mika after Kiki’s body was found to offer his deepest condolences. He told Mika and Enrique Jr. that their husband and father died for his country and that they should be proud of him for giving his life for all of us.”