The tape recordings that revealed this damning information were turned over to both the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the Inspector General, Kent states in the memorandum. 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. WebBest Known For: DEA agents Steve Murphy and Javier Pena were lead investigators in the manhunt for Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. And he protected his enterprise with terror and murder. "Its very dangerous to draw a picture of someone as inhuman," he has said. The FARC (Spanish initials for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the largest leftist insurgent group in that countrys civil war, accused by U.S. officials of drug and arms trafficking) was supposedly interested in buying communications equipment from him. We never really knew who we were dealing with and who we could count on and trust. The episode begins in Bogota, Colombia in 1989, it is narrated by Steve Murphy. Such a debriefing, based on what I learned in a few hours, would take days. In real life, Camarenas wife was indeed named Mika, and she is the mother of his three children. ", As for his portrayal, Feistl called Stahl-David a perfectionist. WebSeven Colombian men are en route to the United States to face charges in the killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Bogota last year, federal officials have "Because of those little subtle differences, that really made them mesh and gel and work together very well as a team. WebA location manager for "Narcos" was found shot to death after scouting out a rural part of Mexico to film the Netflix series' next season. In the end, Javier Pea and his team tracked Escobar down in his hometown of Medelln in 1993 through use of technology that allowed them to trace his phone calls. BOGOTA, Colombia A DEA agent has died in an apparent robbery attempt in Colombia, U.S. As he recalled: I got to Colombia in 88, at the height of the Escobar search. They made startling revelations concerning DEA agents in Bogot, Kent writes. Bem Vindos em Portugus! Did he really move to Guadalajara, Mexico and work for the DEA? That person (the narco-trafficker) is also a DEA informant, the memorandum states, and is believed to have been controlled by the Bogot Country Office. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day, Inside the business of TV with breaking news, expert analysis and showrunner interviews. Furthermore, being in prison gave Escobar protection from his enemies and allowed him to avoid a much-feared extradition to the U.S. "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. Feistl's history in Colombia provides some hints as to what the show would tackle if it stayed in Colombia, namely by turning its eye to the No. In other words, someone outed the Florida groups informant, making him into a target for many dangerous people including the FARC guerrillas, and the tool used to expose him was proprietary DEA information that appeared to have come out of the Bogot DEA office. He started to smuggle car stereos and home appliances. He soon couldnt understand why everyone seemed disappointed by Escobars surrender until he discovered the type of prison that Escobar had in mind for himself. He was shot three times: in the leg, torso and fatally in his ear. 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. 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. But the OPR mysteriously ordered the polygrapher not to report on the test: He was instructed (to say) that the test never took place.. "The MedellinCartel was the Wild Wild West and Cali was businesslike," explains Pena. 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. Colombian police and military forces storm the rooftop where drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot dead just moments earlier during an exchange of gunfire between security forces and Escobar and his bodyguard. In later years, some have argued that Mexican operatives working for the CIA were involved in Kiki Camarenas death, according to El Pais. Special Agent James Terry Watson, 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. "Pacho was very young when they sent him to New York to set up that distribution outlet there. (You can see photos of the real people behind the Narcos: Mexico characters here.) As promised, I am providing you with further information on the allegations and evidence that is already in files at OPR and OIG. To maintain his hold on the cocaine trade, Escobar had to make it clear that he would kill anyone who crossed him, including judges and government officials. "He said, 'Im not going anywhere. If they are true, there will be no brushing them aside at pre-scripted press conferences; everyone who becomes aware of these allegations will be forced to consider where we go from here in that so-called war. "Ive heard Jorges version of what he believes happened. If we can put them together with the Public Integrity Section, they assured me that other agents who have to this point remained silent for fear of retaliation will come forward. he recalls. "The only stipulation Javier and I have is: Whoever we do this with cannot in any way glorify Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel," Murphy recalls telling showrunner Eric Newman during a dinner in Washington, D.C. "We just hit it off. The money goes toward scholarships. With the walls closing in and only his driver, Limon (Leynar Gomez), left alive, he knocks on the elder Escobar's door and enjoys an extended stay with his estranged parent. We sell bronze life-size busts of Kiki that are unveiled in schools and libraries throughout the country, not just in San Diego. Un exagente de la Agencia Antidrogas de Estados Unidos (DEA) expuso este mircoles en el Congreso de EE.UU. The third season introducedAmado Carrillo Fuentes, aka the Lord of the Skies, of the Juarez Cartel and Newman pointed outthat if and when the show goes to Mexico, the show will focus on the war moving closer to U.S. shores. I explained that anything with addresses, phone numbers, bank accounts, any links to different countries or in the United States were all useful.". As a result, the Florida agents decided to have the informants come to the United States with a sample of the acrylic, so they could walk DEAs chemists through the extraction process. Narcos: Mexico shows the growth of the Guadalajara Cartel, pieced together by Felix Gallardo out of warring factions. But we all know, thats not what he chose to do. Michael Pea plays DEA Agent Enrique Kiki Camarena in Season 1 of Narcos: Mexico. In real life, this event caused the US to hit back hard in what came to be known as "Operation Leyenda". How much of 'Narcos' Season 2 really happened? Escobar died Dec. 2, 1993, in a shootout with Colombian police and American DEA agents. US reexamines murder of federal agent featured in 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. The Bogot agents seemed obsessed with stopping the informant from working with the Florida agents, and began doing everything in their power to prevent the investigation from moving forward. Web(Warning: Graphic details of torture and abuse) Amazon Prime's 'The Last Narc' details the horrific account of DEA agent Enrique S "Kiki" Camarena Salazar's abduction and murder by the Mexican drug lords at Guadalajara and the ensuing investigation that followed. WebEnrique " Kiki " Camarena Salazar (July 26, 1947 February 9, 1985) was an American intelligence officer for the United States (DEA). In real life, his name was Cesar Yusti. WebA Drug Enforcement Administration agent was killed in an apparent robbery attempt in Colombia, the agency announced Friday. Web"Descenso" is the first episode of Season 1 of Narcos and the first episode overall. And it was during the time where there was a lot of killings, the assassinations of cops, the car bombs. Javier had been there three years before me. But the DEA had nothing to do with killing Yusti. "We dont binge-watch TV, but we binge-watched season two," Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter about blowing through the second season of the cartel drama with his wife in two days. Warning: Because the real story so closely tracks the fictional one, this article will contain spoilers for Narcos: Mexico. As the two sides argued back and forth, the informant was challenged by the Bogot agents to prove his allegations, the memorandum states. But when the informants got to the airport to leave for the U.S., they were arrested. Zavala was helping Camarena in his undercover operations, The LA Times reported. During the failed attempt, when Miguel was breathing through an oxygen tank behind one of the bathroom walls and got nicked with a driller, Fesitl says they were thisclose to capturing the boss. "So you learn who you trust.". These charges blow away the smoke concealing the pretense of the war on drugs. THR confirmed that two new DEA agents have been added as series regulars for season three: Michael Stahl-David (Show Me a Hero) as Chris Feistl and New Zealand actor Matt Whelan as his partner, Daniel Van Ness. The previous seasons focused on the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar and the Cali Cartel. All Rights Reserved. Oftentimes, the people Pea worked with funneled information directly to Escobar. Part of the reason it was so hard to catch Escobar was that he was willing to kill anyone who came after him. 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. 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. Who was the real Kiki Camarena? So the North Valley cartel thought, 'Hey, I can avoid extradition. Actors Pedro Pascal and Boyd Holbrook (top) who portray agents Pea and Murphy, respectively. The recordings revealed that a narco-trafficker had indeed obtained the internal DEA information that was used to expose the Florida groups informant. WebAllegation Two:Bogot DEA Agents Imprison and Possibly Conspire to Murder Informants to Prevent Their Travel to U.S. A separate DEA group, also based in Florida, ran into Here, Murphy and Pena take THR behind some of the biggest moments of the second season and delve further into a story that, despite its infamy, still had detailsthat were only now brought to light. That was the last time anyone but his kidnappers would see him alive, reveals the DEA, adding that he likely died two days later. Eric took it in good stride. But Newman has not confirmed if he's ready to head straight there just yet. 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Camarena opens the show in a scene that shows hes been abducted. He was shot six or eight times, I believe.". Pena tells THR the realMoncadawas a "major force behind Los Pepes" and that they were told Don Bernawas an informant working with the Search Bloc, authorized by the then-Attorney General. The show includes a whole new cast starring Michael Pena (DEA agent Kiki Camarena) and Diego Luna (the boss Flix Gallardo). Camarena received many awards and is considered an American hero. Toft played a key role in Colombia's successful hunt last year for Pablo Escobar, the Medellin cartel chief killed in a rooftop The memo further claims that, rather than being simply a few bad apples who need to be reported to their superiors, these allegedly dirty agents are being protected by an ongoing cover-up orchestrated by watchdog agencies within the Justice Department. According to El Pais, Camarenas skull, DEA Cali opened the door and the North Valley kind of kicked it through. WebThe real-life 'Narcos' agents who helped bring down Pablo Escobar say their anger toward the notorious drug lord has not faded after 25 years - and painted a bleak picture of the November 16, only on Netflix. And in this case, the dam holding back the truth in the so-called war on drugs may be close to breaking. In the show as in real life, DEA Agent Javier Pea was assigned the daunting task of taking Escobar down. "Thats a question and always a mystery thats been asked for a long time, is," he says. When he got there it was like, 'Wow, Hes here to take care of business.' "She was benefiting from all the illegal things her husband was doing," he says about Tata, who was 15 when she married 24-year-old Pablo. Informants working for the Florida agents sent samples of the cocaine-laced acrylic to the DEA, but the agencys chemists couldnt figure out how to extract the cocaine. WebWhat you don't learn in Narcos: Mexico is that the Guadalajara guys thought that Kiki was the third or fourth agent they had killed -- not the first. Betrayed by his own? 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). He fell into crime at an early age in the Colombian city of Medelln where he forged diplomas and report cards for high school students as a teenager. Born in 1948, Pea was raised in Texas before joining the DEA. Details: citywinery.com Don Berna was at the base [the Colombian National Police Eventually, the informant was released from prison and tried to start working with the Florida agents again, but an agent from the Bogot office traveled to Washington, D.C., and managed to convince DEA brass to derail the investigation. Alyssa Diaz and Mika Camarena attend the Netflix Original Series Narcos: Mexico, special screening at LA Live in Los Angeles, CA on November 14, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. "The violence thats depicted is all true: Pablo and his people are some of the most violent people to ever walk this earth," he said about experiencing similar feelings. Kiki Camarena was born Enrique (Kiki) S. Camarena on July 26, 1947, in Mexicali, Mexico. "We found the caleta in the bathroom and drilled several holes in the wall. Ambassador Michael 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 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. Everybody was willing to hide him. And Im going to be serving my county, serving this community in a different way., Kiki Camarena spent three years in Calexico for the DEA before he was assigned to the agencys Fresno office and then to Mexico, where he worked out of its office in Guadalajara. But Escobar found his true calling in contraband. After news of Narcos' two-season renewal, Newman said the third season will focus on Escobar's successor, the Cali Cartel. ", The real leader of the Search Bloc, Hugo Martinez, is still alive today. "Each one of them brought something to the table, which was pretty distinctive," he says. On Narcos, Pena continued to "smack into walls" while he tried to bring down the cartel, eventually realizing that Cali had bought the presidency by placing Ernesto Samper in office and that the CIA and the Ambassador, his boss, knew about the high levels of corruption. Working closely with various sectors of the Colombian military, it has fielded death squads responsible for murdering thousands of Colombians. 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. In addition, Kents request to send the Bogot corruption allegations to the Justice Departments Public Integrity Section was denied, and his memorandum deep-sixed until now. "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. Agents I know were able to vouch for my credibility and several individuals close to the prior investigations that uncovered corruption agreed to speak with me. How much of 'Narcos' Season 3 really happened? His full name was Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, and, in real life, he was a brutal and clever man called El Padrino AKA The Godfather. ", "We went from Pinzon, who was basically an obstacle for us, toMartinez. Kiki Camerena (Michael Pena), Narcos: Mexico 's main DEA agent ends up getting killed because he is too emotional. He decided not to become a police officer because his dad thought it was too dangerous, according to NBC San Diego, which quoted him as saying, I grab a little bit from one supervisor, I grab a little bit from another, and added on to me to become who I am today., Judge Enrique Camarena Jr. is speaking to @MSASanDiego 6th Graders. "We tend to say he was a Robin Hood guy because he took some of his ill-gotten gain and helped the poor, but thats all fantasy," he says. [Laughs. After this look at Javier Pea, find out why Escobars cousin Gustavo Gaviria may have been the real brains behind the cartel. ", As for the photographs in which he and other members of the Colombian police are smiling while posing with Escobar's dead body, Murphy says,"The reason I was smiling is because we knew, effective that moment, every citizen in Colombia was safer simply because one man died. "At that point in time, Jorge was barricaded up inside of his house with his wife and family for fear they were going to come looking for him to try to kill them," says Feistl. "We were always firm believers that the way you catch these kingpins is through human assets and sources. "Basically, our work here was done and it was time to go.". In the beginning of season two, Connie Murphy (played by Joanna Christie) left Steve Murphy behind in Colombia. The finale shows Tata Escobar swallowing her pride and attempting to appeal to Gilberto (Damian Alcazar) for compassion when she asks her husband's enemy for help getting her family out of Colombia. But the truth, like water, always brings the scum to the surface. I still have a job to do.'" Pena was called away for a daylong assignment, but Murphy was on the scene the day they caught Escobar. Kuykendall is quoted in the book Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs, and the Press by Alexander Cockburn. Though Feistl says the reaction in Colombia was mixed, the exposure shifted the tides. WebA location manager was shot and killed when scouting locations in the north of Mexico city for this last season 4. So how closely does the Netflix version of Javier Pea match up to the real one? 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. He played an important role in the killing of During the 1980s, Pena and Murphy were sent to collaborate with the Colombian Search Bloc in its war against drug traffickers such as Pablo Escobar, often contacting the CIA and Colombian police to help in their operations. 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. Pablo Escobar was surrounded in the middle of fin' nowhere. Authorities pose with Pablo Escobar just after this death. "We arrested Miguel, but then it was, 'Ok, now we need to focus our attention on Jorge. Their attempts to do so led to retaliation. "Juan Pablo writes that they were trumped-up charges and says they were dismissed." On the show, the character is shot by Salcedo as the DEA agents are approaching Pallomari(Javier Camara) to transport him to the U.S. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. Nevertheless, Javier Peas role in taking down perhaps the most infamous drug lord in history was nothing short of essential. Obviously, that list is very, very short. Specifically, Kent contends that the DEAs Office of Professional Responsibility (or OPR, essentially the agencys Internal Affairs department) and elements of DOJs Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have worked to keep a lid on the corruption charges. Fed up with the danger, she took the pair's adopted daughter and abruptly flew back to the United States. I dont believe what he says, so I dont know if its true or not. The first two seasons of Narcos depict the timeline chronicled by DEA special agents Steve Murphy and Javier Pena in their 2019 book Manhunters: How We I had a limited time frame in which to speak with them and ask questions. 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. "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. Specifically, the narcotics traffickers in Colombia were infusing acrylic with cocaine and shaping it into any number of commercial goods, Kent states. In fact, says Kent, the agent was essentially promoted: That call has been documented by the DEA and that agent is now in charge of numerous narcotics and money laundering investigations., Kent, in the memorandum, also alleges that DOJ officials shut down a money laundering investigation because they discovered that it was linked to the alleged DEA corruption in Bogot. When Pachoeventually surrendered in 1997, that's when Feistlleft Colombia. 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 He says they had to give up everything. "We had always heard that Tata sent Juan Pablo to Cali to talk to the Rodriguez brothers and say, 'Hey, its over, were sorry, can we live here without fear?'" "I told him on more than one occasion that catching Miguel was a distant second and that his safety and the safety of his family was my number one priority," says Feistl. WebJune 21, 2013 / 12:51 PM / AP. He talks about how Tata had to personally go negotiate these different surrendering of assets to all the Cali Cartel traffickers. Jorge Salcedo, who now lives under a different name and in an unknown location with his family, has only emerged sporadically from the U.S. witness protection program. Search Bloc targeted people close to Escobar and turned them into informants. A few days before Escobar surrendered, DEA Agent Steve Murphy arrived in Colombia to help with the hunt for the slippery drug lord. "That really opened our eyes to the corruption that we were dealing with there.". He was a Marine. Among other things, it was alleged that the informant (the narco-trafficker) had several agents on his payroll who provided him with classified information. Thats the only thing that kept us alive.". They kept us alive when we were out doing operations. Though some mystery remains around the deaths of the latter two (Chepe was believed to have been killed in a police shootout until a memoir detailed otherwise) the show shared its interpretations of the truth in its depictions. For years in the 1980s, Escobar made untold billions off trafficking cocaine into the United States from his native Colombia. Escobar himself quickly became one of the richest men in the world. Narcos also introduced a handful of other casualties left behind in the wake of the Cali godfathers. The group is widely recognized to be involved in narco-trafficking and arms dealing at the highest levels. In Narcos, he was involved in the DEA's taking down the Cali cartel, which is contrary to what actually happened in real life. Well just send everything that we have through Mexico.' He was sentenced to five years in his custom-built prison, which was a resort. So thats how I know he didnt commit suicide. 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. Fesitl worked in Colombia for a total of 12 years. Dont get involved and stay away from this kind of life. We put a lot of pressure on and it was that relentless pressure that we later learned is what really got him killed.". Each murder was preceded by a request for their identity by an agent in Bogot.. And thats what Ive been doing up until yesterday. After the first failed raid on Miguel, Feistl, as shown on Narcos, told Salcedo it was time to get out and that they would capture the godfather without him. It was ironic and very coincidental that he was killed that day that we went to pick up Pallomari and bring him to Bogota.". She told the newspaper, Since retiring as a skin-care consultant, I can spend more time as president of the foundation. On the series, Gilberto agrees, as long as she hands over all of her assets. "But we felt that he was still in Medellin or in the immediate area. The Fund for Authentic Journalism, All contents, unless otherwise noted, 2000-2011 Al Giordano, The trademarks "Narco News," "The Narco News The agents were believed to work in Colombia and Washington, D.C.. FB.init("6fd1eea8d35df9c4bb8ba0035ab521a9"); Sign up for free email alerts list: "Because of who his father was, he was able to act or get away with certain things. I think he felt that he was involved in something and was a part of and belonged to something.". Trujillo (Jorge Monterrosa), it is discovered, has been feeding Los Pepes information to aid in the hunting of Escobar and his men. The agents who reported the allegations (of corruption) did so to correct wrongs committed by other members of the DEA and OPR, Kent states in the memorandum.
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