BY JENNIE TAER
Mexican authorities captured and arrested the drug lord allegedly responsible for the infamous killing of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena on Friday, the DEA announced.
Rafael Caro-Quintero, the previous leader of the Guadalajara cartel, was allegedly responsible for the kidnapping and killing of Camarena in 1985, and his name was subsequently placed on the FBI’s most wanted list with a reward of up to $20 million, according to the FBI.
“Special Agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena embodied the very best of DEA: he was a tenacious agent who relentlessly pursued the most dangerous drug cartels operating in Mexico. He fearlessly pursued the most violent and the most dangerous traffickers and put our mission—protecting the safety and health of the American people—above all else. Kiki is a hero,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.
Camarena was assigned to the DEA’s Guadalajara, Mexico, office when he was kidnapped by five assailants, one of whom was a Mexican law enforcement officer, and killed, according to the DEA. He disappeared while heading to meet his wife for lunch never to be seen alive again.
