dea agent killed in colombia narcos

All Rights Reserved. After the Florida agents turned these documents over to the OPR and OIG, one of them was put on administrative leave the first sign that a cover-up was underway. Escobar's son, Juan Pablo, details the days after his father's death in his book, Pablo Escobar: My Father. They were able to provide me with some of the highlights, but certainly not all of the information that is sitting at OPR and OIG. "I was able to get a phone number for Jorge and I called him one day and I basically said, 'Hey, I understand you might want to do the right thing and cooperate with us.' While Pena was her DEA contact on the show, Feistl said he never had dealings with Christina and has "no idea" about what he involvement was after Franklin's death or her status now. A high school friend and congressman in California created what were called Camarena Clubs, and people across the country wore red ribbons to indicate they were rejecting drugs, an effort that drew the support of First Lady Nancy Reagan. Kent alleges that one of the corrupt agents from Bogot was caught on a wiretap some time in 2004 discussing criminal activity related to the huge right-wing paramilitary group known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC in its Spanish initials). On the series, Gilberto agrees, as long as she hands over all of her assets. The season two finale set up a return for Pena, even though both of the real agents indicated they weren't involved in the real hunt for Cali. "We went back and forth for a couple of minutes and I said we were here on the ground in Cali and would like to meet as soon as possible. And in this case, the dam holding back the truth in the so-called war on drugs may be close to breaking. I explained that anything with addresses, phone numbers, bank accounts, any links to different countries or in the United States were all useful.". Informants tipped off the Florida agents that that this drug ring had developed an ingenious method for smuggling cocaine into the United States, a method that seems to have been lifted right out of the script of the drug-war movie Traffic. "Often times, we said intel came from a different source and if we had a human source giving us good information, we would disguise it. According to El Pais, Camarenas skull, He agreed and thats how that first meeting transpired. "Theres some artistic licenses, but the timeline is accurate.". To find out that he could have taken us out at any time he wanted to, we kind of attribute it to the grace of God. The writers just really astound me. As of now, Feistl says he has not yet had any talks about working with Narcos for season four, but that it would "make sense" for them to go to Mexico. Newman said he did not contact the brothers about the show. How much of 'Narcos' Season 2 really happened? Pea began working for the DEA in 1984 and started working in Bogota, Fesitl was part of the extradition team and was present when Gilberto and Miguel were sent to the U.S. in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and that was his last interaction with the pair. Kiki received two Sustained Superior Performance Awards, a Special Achievement Award and, posthumously, the Administrators Award of Honor, the highest award granted by DEA, the DEA says. Pablo might be dead but the war is not over," the series tweeted from its official account. A DEA agent in Bogot, it turns out, had told Colombian officials to lock them (the informants) up and throw away the key, according to Kent. You have 24 hours to leave Colombia. He deserves a lot of credit for that. They only travel a short distance, a few feet, but it strikes the body and leaves whats called powder burns. The book alleges that DEA officers investigating Camarenas death knew that the drug agents murder was a joint operation between the drug cartel and the DFS, an agency with intimate ties to the CIA., Kuykendall said, The CIA didnt give a damn about anything but Cuba and the Soiets. We put a lot of pressure on and it was that relentless pressure that we later learned is what really got him killed.". According to El Pais, Camarenas skull, jaw, nose and cheekbones were crushed with a tire iron. ET. However, he would make a fatal mistake, and season 2 deals with the aftermath of it: The murder of Camarena, and how the DEA responded to it. There's stuff in there that's never been told. In Narcos, he was involved in the DEA's taking down the Cali cartel, which is contrary to what actually happened in real life. "The MedellinCartel was the Wild Wild West and Cali was businesslike," explains Pena. The bottom line: Gallardo went way too far by targeting Camarena. The Bogot agent was called on his claim and could not provide any evidence. The agent then switched tactics, arguing that the DEA could not work with the informant because the FARC might end up with the communications equipment. Toft played a key role in Colombia's successful hunt last year for Pablo Escobar, the Medellin cartel chief killed in a rooftop Feistl met him twice in the U.S., once for the NPR podcast and a second time during a meeting with the Narcos team ahead of the season. The penultimate episode sees Escobar retreating to his father's farm. WebIn the acclaimed series Narcos, DEA Agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) narrates how he and his partner, Javier Pea (Pedro Pascal) waged a years-long campaign against In order to get the third season story right, Narcos enlisted the real Chris Feistlto serve as a consultant. There were no stipulations that he had to turn over any of his assets: He could have walked away a free man and never have had to work again. Narcos previously had the real Javier Pena and partner Steve Muprhy (portrayed by Boyd Holbook) consulting on the two-season story of Pablo Escobar and when the show shifted its focus to Cali, Pena and Murphy recommended the showrunners reach out to Feistl. The informants were imprisoned for nine months while the accusations flew back and forth. He is telling the story of his father,DEA agent Enrique Camarena and story of #RedRibbonWeek #inspiringyoungminds Thanks for your fathers and your service to our communities .#msasdonaroll pic.twitter.com/2rAEDOOVgM, Principal Serce (@mr_serce) October 23, 2018, He told NBC San Diego of his dad, You know, I think about him every day. And why, as Kent contends, is it all being covered up? Why is an attorney within Justice afraid to reveal the names of the DEA whistleblowers out of fear that it might jeopardize their law enforcement careers and the lives of their families? Agent Javier Pea of Texas was assigned by the DEA to join in the hunt for Pablo Escobar. "It was a good day for not only DEA but also for the Colombian government, but it was short-lived because we realized at that point we still had a lot of work to do," he says. WebThe DEA Agent Has A Compelling Real Life Story Entertainment Agent Pea Is Just Like His 'Narcos' Character IRL by Caroline Gerdes Sep. 16, 2015 While watching the newest Specifically, they alleged that the agents provided them with information on investigations and other law enforcement activities in Colombia.. There were even people I worked with in DEA that didnt know much about Cali because everything was always focused and publicized with Pablo and Medellin," says Feistl. But the truth, like water, always brings the scum to the surface. But thats the genesis and how that story came to be. ", Pena adds of Escobar's final days: "He was running out of money and he was running out of time. But they had gotten comfortable in that lifestyle. We never crossed that line, but thats what makes the show exciting and interesting, Pea said. "It was revenge for a person that killed thousands and thousands of innocent civilians and police officers, including a couple of my good friends.". 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And he protected his enterprise with terror and murder. But when the Florida agents arrived in Colombia, another Bogot DEA agent told them that the informant was going to stay in prison. Kiki Camarena was born Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena on July 26, 1947, in Mexicali, Mexico. "Both those guys said I would be a good resource to speak to, and also because of William Rempels book At the Devil's Table: The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down Cali." Kiki was surrounded by five armed men who threw him into a car and sped away. Special Agent James Terry Watson, In addition to phone calls, where he says he mainly fielded questions to help solidify the timeline and accuracy of events,Stahl-David visited him at his home for several days. When Pachoeventually surrendered in 1997, that's when Feistlleft Colombia. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. You have to understand, the search for Escobar was purely revenge. Camarena held other positions in law enforcement before joining the DEA. But the Pea of the show was also depicted as an agent not above breaking the law in order to complete his mission. NARCOS: MEXICO Official Trailer "Agent Kiki Camarena" (HD) Michael Pena Series, SUBSCRIBE for more TV Trailers HERE: goo.gl/TL21HZ He gave his life for his work. The ending is a sad one, and what happened to Kiki Camarena would change the face of Mexican drug cartels forever and lead to the emergence of El Chapo. Kent details three further cases of extreme corruption in his memo, all involving Bogot DEA agents persecuting or conspiring to kill Colombian informants who threatened to bring down their activities. In the 1970s and 1980s, Pablo Escobar held the country of Colombia in an iron grip as he and his Medelln Cartel terrorized the nation with a wave of killings and constant bombings in support of their drug trade. "Pablo really was a manipulator. In 87 to 89, they really exploited that Mexican corridor and it was because of NAFTA and the Juarez cartel that they were able to push a lot of cocaine into Mexico on those huge 747 flights theyd land in the desert and offload six, eight, 10 tons or more of cocaine and then bring back these huge cash shipments to Cali. 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After they did catch Miguel, Salcedo, once again to Feistl's surprise, said he wasn't leaving until he helped them approach Pallomari, the accountant and future key witness in dismantling Cali corruption. Indirectly, they (the CIA) have got to take some of the blame. He alleged the CIA protected the DFS for decades, and stated, The DFS just got out of hand., Kiki Camarena Death: The Real Story of the DEA Agents Murder, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. ", The real leader of the Search Bloc, Hugo Martinez, is still alive today. And although the charges raised by Kent in his 2004 memorandum have now passed before many eyes, they have still not been addressed in the light of day. His focus was Cali during his first tour from 1994 to 1997, leaving shortly after Pacho's surrender. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, after his death, she formed the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation in 2004 with the help of retired DEA agents and her oldest son, Enrique, a deputy district attorney working in the South Bay. Agents from the Bogot office promised to help, one of them assuring the Florida agents that the informants release from prison could be arranged. They kept us alive when we were out doing operations, Pea said. Amazingly, Gallardo was only recently sentenced in the death (hed been sentenced before but a retrial was ordered; he never left prison after 1989, though). Betrayed by his own? And so with Pablo Escobar dead, Javier Pea left Colombia and went on to continue his successful career with the DEA before retiring in 2014. ", Pena calls it ironic that he wasn't in Medellin the day they caught Escobar, but says it doesn't matter because justice was served. Ambassador Michael Pedro Pascal, who played DEA agent Javier Pea is not returning to Narcos. The (Bogot) agent was unable to dissuade those involved in the investigation, and it finally took off with the assistance of the NSA, the memo states. ", How Feistlhooked up with Salcedo was a focal point in his conversations with the Narcos team, along with what they did when they got to Colombia, details of their first trip to Cali to interact with the Colombian national police and military, and how operations and surveillance unfolded. We are helping law enforcement get the word out about drugs to our youth, parents and schools., Kiki Camarenas son, Enrique Camarena is now a judge in California after serving as a deputy district attorney for years. Thats when we went to look for the hammers because once we were able to hit the air space, we knew there was unaccounted for space behind that wall.". They made startling revelations concerning DEA agents in Bogot, Kent writes. In the first episodes of Narcos: Mexico, Kiki Camarena (played by Michael Pena) and Felix Gallardo (played by Diego Luna) are juxtaposed as twin protagonists: One trying to solidify the drug trade and the other trying to stop it in an era when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was still an underappreciated agency headquartered over a strip club. They kept us alive when we were out doing operations. While this investigation eventually ended up in the hands of the National Security Agency, from the beginning it appeared to be related to drug trafficking and the Florida DEA agents decided to investigate. ", Though Fesitl balks at their self-described label of being "gentlemen," he does admit that it is rare for a group of cartel bosses to not betray each other. Feistl says the depiction of the death of Miguel's son, David Rodriguez (played byArturo Castro), was accurate in the show. ]", Connie, whom Steve calls "one of the bravest women I've ever met," actually stayed at their home in Bogota while the agent spent most of the 18 months covered on season two hunting Escobar from Medellin. WebFor years in the 1980s, Escobar made untold billions off trafficking cocaine into the United States from his native Colombia. Was he really abducted? Instead, as in similar past cases, they have been buried in the contorted layers of the Justice Department bureaucracy. By shortening the timeline, Newman was able to focus more on the characters, including his villain. On Dec. 19, 2004, Thomas M. Kent, an attorney in the wiretap unit of the Justice Departments Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs Section (NDDS), sent off a memo to his section chief. Kent says his claims are supported by a number of DEA agents in Florida who the agency muzzled and retaliated against after they tried to expose the corruption. Escobar himself quickly became one of the richest men in the world. Bienvenidos en Espaol! [Warning: This story contains spoilers from the second season of Narcos.]. The previous seasons focused on the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar and the Cali Cartel. We worked primarily with the police, and they were the guys that we trusted with our lives. We also speak in favor of the Red Ribbon campaign and drug awareness. Murphy explained that Pea had just been called away on other DEA business: Sure enough, hes on his way to the airport when they killed Escobar. He was gunned down by a North Valley member. Ernesto Don Neto Fonseca and Rafael Caro Quintero were other cartel leaders involved. I still have a job to do.'" La Catedral, as the prison was called, was more like a resort. Today, Fonseca is on house arrest, and Caro Quintera was released from prison in 2013 on a legal technicality and is being sought by the U.S. Camarenas death changed the face of Mexican drug cartels. One of the questions I remember him asking was when we went into GuillermoPallomaris office, [the accountant for the Cali cartel] and what I looked for in a raid. Authorities pose with Pablo Escobar just after this death. "As long as it would have taken us to get a sledgehammer and knock the wall down, so two or three minutes, thats how far away we were on the initial raid to arresting Miguel," he says. In it, Kent raised a series of corruption allegations centering on the DEAs office in Bogot. He says they had to give up everything. The narco-traffickers, crooked cops, and thieving politicians in the drug war are always over there, in Latin America, and elsewhere, and U.S. law enforcers and government officials are always the good guys battling these forces of evil. WebThats especially true when he and his partner go to take down Cockroach, only to have one of Escobars hitmen take him out first, killing another DEA agent in the process. WebHe joined the DEA in 1987 and started working in Miami, where he stayed for four years, before being transferred to Bogot, Colombia. Getty ImagesActors Pedro Pascal and Boyd Holbrook (top) who portray agents Pea and Murphy, respectively. "Basically, our work here was done and it was time to go.". It was his end, and his new cartels end, and it was El Chapos beginning (the eventual drug lord is first seen in the beginning of Narcos: Mexico in all his humble beginnings as a driver for a Sinaloan drug lord).

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