After cartels killed my husband, my family waited 40 years for justice. Thanks to Trump, it’s finally here
For nearly 40 years, my family has carried an unbearable grief from the brutal murder of my husband, DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Kiki was a devoted father, a loving husband, and a dedicated DEA agent who gave his life to protect American citizens from ruthless drug cartels. He believed in justice, fighting for what was right, and making the world safer for our children. But in 1985, America lost a hero when Kiki was murdered in the most gruesome way imaginable.
In February of that year, Kiki was kidnapped by the Guadalajara Cartel. He was tortured for hours — beaten and burned with cigarettes. Rafael Caro Quintero and the other cartel captors refused to let him slip into unconsciousness, injecting him with drugs to keep him awake so he would feel every ounce of their brutality.
We held onto hope that he would come home. That hope was shattered when his body was found, discarded as though his life had meant nothing. But Kiki’s life—and his sacrifice—meant something, and it still does. And so, for 40 years, my family and I have fought to ensure that his death was not in vain.
For too long, justice was out of reach, because Rafael Caro Quintero and other cartel members responsible for Kiki’s murder operated with impunity. They built vast criminal empires, flooding U.S. streets with fentanyl and leaving devastation in their wake. Cartels are violent organizations with no regard for human life. They profit from evil—through drug smuggling, human trafficking, terrorizing innocents, and countless other horrific crimes. And yet, for decades, they have operated without facing the full weight of U.S. law.
It was in July of 2022, after years in hiding, that Rafael Caro Quintero was finally captured in Mexico. Unfortunately, at that time, the U.S. government did not try hard enough to make him pay for his crimes. But once President Trump was re-elected, we once again had hope. We knew that he believed in our cause, and we had faith that he would keep his promise to hold cartels responsible for their heinous crimes.
On his first day back in office, President Trump courageously issued an executive order to designate Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. This classification is more than a legal tool—it is a recognition of the horrors these groups inflict on Americans like my husband. And even more, it helps cut off financing to cartels and their support networks, because the terrorist designation allows families like mine to seek justice against them in court.
After Quintero was extradited to the United States earlier this month, my family and I filed a lawsuit against the man who murdered my husband. For the first time in nearly four decades, as he awaits a criminal trial in the United States, we have hope that those responsible for my husband’s death will truly be held accountable.
I want the cartels who killed my husband to pay a price for their crimes. But what about the other families who have lost loved ones to cartel violence and are still waiting for justice? I’m speaking out because I want to inspire the other families to take action too.
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President Trump’s historic designation of several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations clears a path for many families to pursue justice, but not for all. More families like mine, who have lost loved ones to cartel violence, would have the opportunity to hold the cartels accountable for their crimes if the administration would expand the foreign terrorist designation list. In particular, the Juárez and La Línea cartels, responsible for the brutal massacre in 2019 of nine American citizens in LaMora, Mexico, including six children, are some of the most dangerous cartels in Mexico and should be the first ones added.
My fight—Kiki’s fight—does not end with Quintero’s arrest or with this lawsuit. President Trump stands with us. His administration could add Juárez, La Línea, and other cartels to the terrorist designation list to protect and bring justice to even more Americans. We owe it to Kiki and to the thousands of other victims to honor the lives lost with actions that make our country safer.
For 40 years, I have waited for justice. Now, I’m determined to ensure that every American victim of the cartels’ ruthless brutality and terrorism can get the justice they deserve.