The family of DEA Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1985, filed a lawsuit in San Diego federal court this week against the Sinaloa Cartel and the cartel leaders allegedly responsible for his death.
The lawsuit was filed following President Donald Trump's designation of the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization, opening the door for Camarena's family to pursue an anti-terrorism lawsuit of this kind.
Kiki Camarena’s sister, Myrna Camarena, said the 40 years between her brother’s death and the indictment has felt like an eternity. She lives in San Diego, as does Kiki Camarena’s son, San Diego Superior Court Judge Enrique Camarena Jr., who is now a Superior Court judge. Myrna Camarena said her brother was just two weeks from being transferred to San Diego when he was killed.
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Along with the Sinaloa Cartel, the suit names alleged drug kingpins Rafael Caro-Quintero, Ernesto Fonseca-Carrillo and Miguel Angel Felix-Gallardo as defendants.
According to the complaint, all three are founding members of the Guadalajara Cartel, which dissolved, with its drug trafficking activities later assumed by the Sinaloa Cartel.
Camarena and his pilot, Alfredo Zavala-Avelar, were abducted in Guadalajara by gunmen on Feb. 7, 1985. Camarena was on his way to meet his wife for lunch when he was kidnapped across the street from the DEA's offices inside the U.S. Consulate.
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Both men were interrogated and tortured for more than a day and then murdered sometime on Feb. 9, the complaint states. Their bodies were discovered in a shallow grave on a ranch about 60 miles southeast of Guadalajara.
Plaintiffs include Camarena's widow, Geneva "Mika" Camarena, along with several other family members, including Camarena's son, Enrique Jr.
Caro-Quintero was convicted in Mexico of Camarena's murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison, but was released after a Mexican appellate court ruled state murder charges were pursued against him incorrectly because he was tried in federal court. Caro-Quintero was released from custody in 2013, but re-arrested nearly a decade later after an appellate court reinstated his conviction.
Caro-Quintero was transferred to U.S. custody last month to face charges for Camarena's murder, among others.
Fonseca-Carrillo and Felix-Gallardo were convicted in Mexico for Camarena's kidnapping and murder and each sentenced to 40 years in prison.
