Chapter 1
286 Words
1
On February 7, 1985, a DEA agent named Enrique Camarena Salazar was abducted while working deep cover in Mexico. To his friends, he was known simply as "Kiki." Agent Camarena was the first to propose that in order to stop the drug cartels, the US should go after the money, not the drugs. President Ronald Reagan, upon hearing of the abduction, became infuriated. He phoned Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid and threatened that if Agent Camarena did not resurface, immediately, he would order the US State Department to issue a code-red travel alert—the US-Mexican border would be sealed. The action would have destroyed Mexico’s economy.
At the same time, the CIA was covertly involved in an all-out effort to finance the Contra rebels of Nicaragua. The Contras were attempting to overthrow the Sandanista government, and the United States was all too happy to assist. Secret funds were raised on two fronts. The first was in Iran. At the time, Iran was under an arms embargo, yet the CIA orchestrated the sale of Hawk and TOW missiles to the Iranians. It was an all-cash deal. The second involved CIA-protected shipments of cocaine from Mexico into the United States. Between the two sources of funding, the CIA secured the resources necessary to oversee the toppling of the Nicaraguan regime. But before that could happen, the scandal broke. It became known as The Iran-Contra Affair.
When Agent Camarena followed the money trail in Mexico and discovered the CIA was running drugs into the United States, they orchestrated his abduction. His horribly tortured body was uncovered a month later.
This story is dedicated to the memory of Special Agent Kiki Camarena and all those who would risk their lives to make the world a better place.
- Writer
