RED RIBBON WEEK HONORS FALLEN DRUG OFFICERS

Many Bladen County students brought home red ribbons this week for the
annual drug awareness campaign, but most have never heard of Enrique "Kiki"
Camarena.

"We want people to be aware of the dangers of drug use," said Chief Deputy
Phillip Little of he Bladen County Sheriff's Department, "and we want them
to know the background of Red Ribbon Week."

Camarena was an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration
who died in the line of duty in 1985. Red Ribbon Week was founded in 1988
"to reduce the demand for illegal drugs and the abuse of legal drugs,"
Little said.

The Red Ribbon Campaign was established by an act of congress, and was
heavily promoted by President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy.

The campaign's website, www.redribboncoalition.org,, describes how Camarena
died while taking part in an undercover operation against a large Mexican
marijuana cartel.

Camarena, a native of Mexico, was a naturalized U.S. citizen. After serving
in the U.S. Marine Corps, he became a police officer-a dream he'd had since
he was a child in the Mexico. Camarena's family emigrated to California as
migrant laborers in the 1960's, and went to work with the DEA in 1974.

According to his biography, Camarena's investigation indicated that the
Mexican military was involved in a major marijuana and cocaine smuggling
operation.

"We're talking about billions of dollars in drugs," Little said.

On February 7, 1985, Camarena and his pilot, Alfredo Zavala-Alvera, were
kidnapped in Mexico. Both men were tortured and killed.

"There were indications the drug dealers had hired a doctor to keep
(Camarena and Zavala-Alvera) alive while the men were being tortured,"
Little said.

The bodies were so mutilated they had to be identified by forensic
pathologists, according to the on-line biography./

"A lot of people think pot is no big deal," Little said. "The cartel that
killed Camarena was primarily a marijuana organization."

A number of members of the cartel were later arrested, tried and convicted
based on evidence developed during Camarena's investigation, according to
the biography. The murders brought the Mexican drug trade into the national
spotlight, Little said, and inspired anti-drug campaigns across the
country, including Nancy Reagan's famous "Just Say No" program.