Thursday, February 7, 1985, at approximately 2:00 p.m. Enrique (Kiki) Camarena (37), a DEA agent, stashed his badge and his service revolver in his desk drawer and headed for a luncheon date with his wife, Mika (34). Kiki had been in Mexico four (4) and one-half (1/2) years on the trail of Mexico’s marijuana and cocaine barons. He was due to be reassigned in three (3) weeks, having come dangerously close to unlocking a multibillion dollar drug pipeline which he suspected extended into the highest reaches of the Mexican army, police, and government.
As he stepped through the consulate portal into the sunlight of a warm Guadalajara winter day, he moved to his pickup truck, turned off the truck’s burglar alarm with his key, and unlocked his door. He was interrupted before he could get into the cab and grab his two-way radio, with which he could alert his partners. According to DEA’s reconstruction of events, five (5) men appeared at the agent’s side and shoved him into a beige Volkswagen van, threw a jacket over Kiki’s head, and sped away. This was the last time anyone but his kidnappers would see him alive.
Kiki Camarena’s body was found one month later in a shallow grave, 70 miles from Michoacan, Mexico. He had been tortured, beaten, and brutally murdered. Mika would have to tell her three (3) sons, Enrique (11), Daniel (6), and Erick (4) that their daddy would not be coming home again. News of the tragedy hit newspapers, radio stations, and television news broadcasts.
As a result in 1988, with President and Mrs. Reagan serving as honorary chairpersons, the first red ribbon campaign, sponsored by the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth (now the National Family Partnership), was celebrated. The red ribbon became their symbol to eliminate the demand for drugs. This eight-day celebration became the annual catalyst to show intolerance for drugs in our schools, work places, and communities.
