Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena Salazar’s autopsy

Learn about Enrique Camarena, the DEA agent who combatted organized crime.

Kiki Camarena was kidnapped and tortured.

This is what Enrique Camarena’s autopsy revealed.

What did Enrique Camarena’s autopsy find? The story of this DEA agent who infiltrated Mexican drug cartels is one that will go down in history. For a long time, Camarena was able to keep a low profile and gather information about the operation of Mexican drug cartels, however his story took a tragic turn on February 5, 1985.

Learn more about the fascinating and chilling story of Enrique Camarena Salazar, also known as ‘Kiki’. He was US marine who joined the Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA was assigned him to the Guadalajara agency in Mexico, where his story became legendary.

Who was Enrique Camarena?

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Enrique Camarena, alias ‘Kiki’, was born on July 26, 1947 in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. In 1973, he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he remained for approximately two years, receiving extensive training that would later serve him as a means of stealthily infiltrating the depths of the Guadalajara cartel.

Camarena’s assignment was to earn a place in the Guadalajara cartel, taking advantage of his Latin appearance and his agricultural skills. Within the cartel, Kiki had the opportunity to break up several criminal groups while keeping a low profile.

Kiki Camarena’s kidnapping and torture

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In 1984, a property belonging to Rafael Caro Quintero (founder of the Guadalajara cartel) was invaded by 450 Mexican soldiers. The marijuana plantation, with an extension of 1,000 hectares, housed more than 3,000 workers and generated profits of more than $8 billion a year.

This operation was considered one of the largest by the DEA but it was a death sentence for Enrique Camarena. According to some reports, the local police colluded with the Guadalajara cartel to dispose of the bodies of the deceased, including Kiki, who was brutally tortured by Caro Quintero and his associates.

Enrique Camarena’s autopsy

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What did Enrique Camarena’s autopsy show? Kiki was kidnapped on February 8, 1985, by a direct order from Rafael Caro Quintero, in retaliation for the invasion of Rancho Búfalo, one of the largest marijuana plantations in Mexico. Enrique Camarena was captured in broad daylight and taken to a barracks where he would be interrogated and tortured for more than 36 hours.

Camarena’s interrogation was captured on audio. The sounds of torture including breaking bones and teeth, rape and severe burns could be heard. A doctor was in charge of resuscitating him so that he could continue answering questions and when he could no longer answer, he was killed by a blow to the head.

What were Kiki’s injuries?

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Kiki Camarena’s body was found in a rural area of Michoacan and the autopsy report indicated that he was wearing “long white truss pants…tied at the feet with curtain rod cables with knots… blindfolded with adhesive tape…»

In addition, external injuries were found such as a biparietal fracture with a subsidence of 15 centimeters, detachment of the nail of the ring finger of the left hand, and a wound caused by a projectile in the right forearm. Enrique Camarena’s autopsy revealed that his body was 20 days old, and presented a wound produced with a firearm with a depth of 8 centimeters, exposing the bones of the wrist joint.