Assassination of Enrique Camarena event
also: Camarena's kidnapping, Camarena's murder, Camarena's death, abduction and murder, killing of Camerino
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Related entities (most co-mentioned)
Enrique Kiki Camarenaperson · 15Hector Barajasperson · 13CIAintelligence service · 13Rafael Quinteroperson · 10Mexicocountry · 9Tosh Plumleeperson · 8Phil Jordanperson · 7Guadalajaraplace · 5Federal Security Directorateorganization · 5Felix Rodriguezperson · 4Veracruzplace · 3Contrasorganization · 2Guatemalacountry · 2Murder of Manuel Buendiaevent · 1Irancountry · 1Nicaraguacountry · 1United Statescountry · 1Mexico Cityplace · 1Costa Ricacountry · 1Gary Webbperson · 1Phoenix, Arizonaplace · 1Dark Alliancebook · 1Juan Mata Balartaperson · 1Manuel Buendiaperson · 1
Claims (4)
Juan Mata Balarta involved_in
Assassination of Enrique Camarena documented
“was a major figure in the Colombian cartel and was involved in the murder of DEA agent Enrique Catamarina. Mata was extradited to the U.S. in 1988 and convicted of drug trafficking. Plumlee also had a connection to slain DEA agent Camarino.…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner The Great Pretense Part 2 @ 47:56
CIA covered_up
Assassination of Enrique Camarena guest_asserted
“Camerino had been tortured to the extent that he needed to be hospitalized, and that risk could not be taken by his abductors, so the decision was made to kill him. Ultimately, it was a quote-unquote botched operation that spawned a cover-u…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner The Great Pretense Part 2 @ 57:37
Federal Security Directorate covered_up
Assassination of Enrique Camarena guest_asserted
“Jordan says DEA agents managed to catch up with Quintero at the airport in Guadalajara, but were prevented from apprehending him because Quintero was protected by DFS agents that were also connected to the CIA. Jordan, who says he has two t…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner The Great Pretense Part 2 @ 54:16
CIA covered_up
Assassination of Enrique Camarena speculative
“played clandestinely at the house or worn on a person, the CIA certainly had the means and connections of the Mexican intelligence to get those recordings. What happened with the two missing tapes? As Barillas claims, it does raise question…”
▶ The Colonel's Corner The Great Pretense Part 2 @ 1:03:33
Mentions (25)
▶ 40:35
That guy that was running the Tijuana sector has some weird name. He was on the payroll of the CIA, and he even said that in his trial when Syntac eventually arrested him. One of the chief architects of Camarena's kidnapping, brutal torture…
▶ 41:30
Let's see, that would make it 30. So around the time that this syntax operation was going on. The real story behind Camerina's murder, however, lacks a single villain. Based on interviews the author conducted in October of 2013 with several…
▶ 43:24
Plumlee told the author during the course of a series of interviews that after Camarino's murder in early February 1985, that he was ordered by his CIA handlers to fly into a ranch located near Veracruz, Mexico. That ranch, Plumlee says, at…
▶ 45:00
via arms sales to Iran to fund Nicaraguan Contras. Part of the scandal also implicates the CIA and the national security staff in narcotic and arms trafficking. Investigative Gary Webb further bolstered the claims of the U.S. government's i…
▶ 46:34
because we know they have ranches, at least one by haul, in Costa Rica. In fact, Caro Quintero was captured in Costa Rica in April of 1985, three months after Camarino's murder. After dropping Quintero off in Guatemala,…
▶ 47:56
was a major figure in the Colombian cartel and was involved in the murder of DEA agent Enrique Catamarina. Mata was extradited to the U.S. in 1988 and convicted of drug trafficking. Plumlee also had a connection to slain DEA agent Camarino.…
▶ 51:47
as well as information that would expose high-ranking members of the Mexican political party, PRI, because they were assisting the CIA in the arms and drug trafficking. Bodino was murdered in 1984 after leaving his office in Mexico City for…
▶ 53:45
Former DEA commander Jordan spent some time with Camarino in Guadalajara, Mexico in the spring of 84. At that time, Jordan says he realized the Mexican DFS agents were tailing Camarino. Jordan says Camarino told him that that was true and t…
▶ 54:16
Jordan says DEA agents managed to catch up with Quintero at the airport in Guadalajara, but were prevented from apprehending him because Quintero was protected by DFS agents that were also connected to the CIA. Jordan, who says he has two t…
▶ 55:16
But Borrellas, who spent some five years of his life investigating Camarino's murder while working for the DEA, contends that the DFS agents did play a major role in his abduction and interrogation. Besides the individuals in the car used t…
▶ 55:45
Present at the house in Guadalajara, where Camerino was held after his kidnapping, Varela said were narco-traffickers like Quintero, his partner, Ernesto Ferseco Carrillo, and members of their organization. At the house were DFS agents, as …
▶ 56:13
Valera says that he has sources who were at the house when Camerino was being tortured and later became government witnesses that have confirmed those facts. The goal of abducting Camerino, Valera believes, was not to kill him, but rather t…
▶ 56:41
Valeras, as well as Jordan and Plumlee, say they believe it was likely Camerino was abducted on the orders of powerful individuals who were calling the shots in the CIA-supported Contra supply operation, individuals who ultimately reported …
▶ 57:09
Valeras also claims Camerino played a key role in helping DEA successfully ramp up interdictions of the proceeds of drugs, therefore threatening the funding source for the CIA, which was another incentive for ferreting out his sources of in…
▶ 57:37
Camerino had been tortured to the extent that he needed to be hospitalized, and that risk could not be taken by his abductors, so the decision was made to kill him. Ultimately, it was a quote-unquote botched operation that spawned a cover-u…
▶ 58:03
Reporting for The Guardian in July of 2025 revealed that the U.S. Justice Department planned to turn over audio recordings of the 1985 torture and killing of Camerino to Caro Quintero's defense team as part of discovery in his then pending …
▶ 59:03
of an American being tortured that the CIA had. How did they get those tapes? And my source indicated there were five tapes, but we, the DEA, only got three from the CIA. In 2013, explosive reporting from Mexican news magazine Prosecco, bas…
▶ 59:32
And some of the former Mexican officers alleged that a CIA officer was involved in the Camarino killing. The reports claim that Camarino was beginning to discover the CIA was collaborating with the Guadalajara cartel using them to train Con…
▶ 1:00:03
which featured Barillas, other U.S. officials, and three former Mexican federal cops, along with cartel members. The CIA and the former officer in question, Felix Rodriguez, has denied their involvement in the Camarino murder. Felix Rodrigu…
▶ 1:00:37
Rodriguez. Barreras and Jordan, in interviews that the author conducted with them in 2013, also pointed the finger at Felix Rodriguez, a longtime CIA operative. But both Barreras and Jordan said they suspect that proof was likely on the mis…
▶ 1:02:30
that the DEA, CIA was doing arms and drug trafficking through El Salvador. And he's the guy that got put in a closet until he retired. Neither Bareilles nor Jordan or Plumlee were at the house in Guadalajara in February of 85 when Camerino …
▶ 1:03:01
In addition, not everyone accepts the versions. That puts Felix Rodriguez at the house the night Camerino was killed, including the CIA and Rodriguez. So, but of course the CIA and Rodriguez is gonna lie because they lied about everything. …
▶ 1:04:06
Recordings contain information that implicates the CIA. The revelations made by Plumlee, a known CIA asset and later whistleblower, along with the information dug up by Barillas and Jordan via their DEA sources and investigation, if accurat…
▶ 1:04:37
Quintero. One loose end in Plumlee's story seems to be that he insists he flew Quintero to Guatemala from a ranch in Veracruz, Mexico. Jordan and Bareilles contend that Quintero boarded a plane in Guadalajara in the wake of Camarino's murde…
▶ 1:06:06
out of Mexico. Barillas also made another revelation that he considers a key piece of the puzzle in Camarino's murder. As part of the investigation into the DEA's death, Barillas says his team tracked down everyone that showed up on his cal…