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Undid revision 1004723266 by Darouet (talk)There are DEA reports and documents, I'm pretty sure those are reliable sources.
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'''''The Last Narc''''' is a docuseries about the 1985 death of U.S. DEA agent [[Kiki Camarena|Enrique "Kiki" Camarena]]. The series interviews DEA agents and witnesses to Camarena's death who state that he was murdered by Mexican drug lords, with the complicity of the CIA. The series was released by Amazon in July 2020.<ref name="nugent">{{cite news |last1=Nugent |first1=Annabel |title=Director of Amazon’s ‘The Last Narc’ had a gun pulled on him during filming |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/last-narc-director-tiller-russell-gun-amazon-series-a9652076.html |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=The Independent |date=3 August 2020}}</ref>
'''''The Last Narc''''' is a fictional docuseries about the 1985 death of U.S. DEA agent [[Kiki Camarena|Enrique "Kiki" Camarena]]. The series interviews DEA agents and witnesses to Camarena's death who state that he was murdered by Mexican drug lords, with the complicity of the CIA. The series was released by Amazon in July 2020.<ref name="nugent">{{cite news |last1=Nugent |first1=Annabel |title=Director of Amazon’s ‘The Last Narc’ had a gun pulled on him during filming |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/last-narc-director-tiller-russell-gun-amazon-series-a9652076.html |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=The Independent |date=3 August 2020}}</ref>


==Plot==
==Plot==
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The series features interviews with real persons involved in Camarena's life and death. <ref name="schager">{{cite news |last1=Schager |first1=Nick |title=Did the CIA Torture an Undercover DEA Agent for a Mexican Drug Cartel? |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/did-the-cia-torture-an-undercover-dea-agent-for-a-mexican-drug-cartel |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=The Daily Beast |date=31 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="young" />
The series features interviews with real persons involved in Camarena's life and death. <ref name="schager">{{cite news |last1=Schager |first1=Nick |title=Did the CIA Torture an Undercover DEA Agent for a Mexican Drug Cartel? |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/did-the-cia-torture-an-undercover-dea-agent-for-a-mexican-drug-cartel |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=The Daily Beast |date=31 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="young" />

==Fictional events==

Involvement of the CIA in an abduction and murder of Enrique Camarena is a fiction. While working for the DEA as a witnesses in 1992, former enforcers of the Guadalajara cartel Jorge Godoy, René López and Ramón Lira provided a detailed testimonies without any mention of the CIA or Félix Rodríguez.<ref>http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Matters/DEA%20Reports/Godoy%20Reports.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Matters/DEA%20Reports/Lopez-Romero.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Matters/DEA%20Reports/Lira.pdf</ref> Former DEA agent Salvador Leyva, who has interrogated, among others, Godoy, López and Lira together with his partner Héctor Berrellez, confirmed in September 2020 that witnesses talking for ''The Last Narc'' never spoke about any kind of involvement of the CIA. Leyva wrote and debriefed most of the informants in the Leyenda investigation and according to him, nobody ever said anything about the CIA in a connection with Camarena's death.<ref>https://www.spytalk.co/p/tv-spies-amazons-wacky-cia-drug-war</ref> The main interrogator of Camarena actually was [[Dirección Federal de Seguridad|DFS]] agent Sergio Espino-Verdin.<ref>http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Cases/Zuno%20Arce/Trail%20Transcripts/06-07-90.pdf</ref> Even one of the ''The Last Narc's'' participants Jorge Godoy confirmed in past that the interrogator was Espino-Verdin.<ref>http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Pleadings/9th%20Cir%2095-50191/Verdugo%20Excrpt%20Record%20Vol%201.pdf</ref>

Héctor Berrellez said in ''The Last Narc'' that [[Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo]] put a contract on his head, but it actually was Manuel Salcido Uzeta, alias El Cochiloco, who wanted to kill Berrellez.<ref>https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a23704/pariah-gary-webb-0998/</ref> Claim that Enrique Camarena has been close to discover the CIA's secret training camp for the Contras in [[Veracruz]] is also false because agents from the DEA's office in Guadalajara have never been responsible for any investigations in this Mexican state.<ref>http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Cases/Zuno%20Arce/Trail%20Transcripts/05-15-90.pdf</ref> Berrellez also said that his predecessors in the investigation of Camarena's death were unable to find at least one witness of the crime. But in reality, DEA already arrested two direct participants of Camarena's murder - René Verdugo<ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/856/1214/256491/</ref> and Raúl López Álvarez.<ref>https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/970/583/269728/</ref>


==Production==
==Production==


The documentary's director, Tiller Russell, researched Camarena's murder for 14 years, and then shot and edited ''The Last Narc'' for two years.<ref name="cbs8">{{cite news |last1=Gotfredson |first1=David |title=Documentary alleges US involvement in 1985 death of DEA agent |url=https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/crime/documentary-alleges-us-involvement-in-1985-death-of-dea-agent-enrique-kiki-camarena-the-last-narc/509-d50dfd1c-43ae-4afd-a332-5d1357b8b3bb |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=CBS8 |date=10 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="young" /> Russell has kept his location a secret, fearing for his safety.<ref name="cbs8" /> He said that after he asked Jorge Godoy one interview question, Godoy drew a pistol.<ref name="nugent" /><ref name="young">{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Julius |title='The Last Narc' director recalls pistol being pulled on him during docuseries exploring DEA agent’s death |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-last-narc-director-pistol-torture-death-of-dea-agent-kiki-camarena-murder |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=Fox News |date=30 July 2020}}</ref>
The documentary's director, Tiller Russell, researched Camarena's murder for 14 years, and then shot and edited ''The Last Narc'' for two years.<ref name="cbs8">{{cite news |last1=Gotfredson |first1=David |title=Documentary alleges US involvement in 1985 death of DEA agent |url=https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/crime/documentary-alleges-us-involvement-in-1985-death-of-dea-agent-enrique-kiki-camarena-the-last-narc/509-d50dfd1c-43ae-4afd-a332-5d1357b8b3bb |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=CBS8 |date=10 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="young" /> Russell has kept his location a secret, fearing for his safety.<ref name="cbs8" /> He said that after he asked Jorge Godoy one interview question, Godoy drew a pistol.<ref name="nugent" /><ref name="young">{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Julius |title='The Last Narc' director recalls pistol being pulled on him during docuseries exploring DEA agent’s death |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-last-narc-director-pistol-torture-death-of-dea-agent-kiki-camarena-murder |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=Fox News |date=30 July 2020}}</ref>

Russell told ''Fox News'' that in making ''The Last Narc'', "We have absolutely zero latitude for fictionalizing or dramatizing anything. All we can do is adhere to these first-hand and first-person experiences."<ref name="young" />


''The Last Narc'' was produced by [[Eli Holzmann]] and [[Aaron Saidman]].<ref name="palmer">{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Katie |title=The Last Narc release date, cast, trailer: When does the real Narcos documentary air? |url=https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1275621/the-last-narc-release-date-cast-trailer-when-real-narcos-documentary-air-kiki-camarena |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=Express.co.uk |date=15 May 2020}}</ref>
''The Last Narc'' was produced by [[Eli Holzmann]] and [[Aaron Saidman]].<ref name="palmer">{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Katie |title=The Last Narc release date, cast, trailer: When does the real Narcos documentary air? |url=https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1275621/the-last-narc-release-date-cast-trailer-when-real-narcos-documentary-air-kiki-camarena |accessdate=8 September 2020 |publisher=Express.co.uk |date=15 May 2020}}</ref>

Revision as of 05:33, 4 February 2021

The Last Narc is a fictional docuseries about the 1985 death of U.S. DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. The series interviews DEA agents and witnesses to Camarena's death who state that he was murdered by Mexican drug lords, with the complicity of the CIA. The series was released by Amazon in July 2020.[1]

Plot

The docuseries recounts the story of DEA Agent Kiki Camarena's investigation of Mexican cartel drug lords including Miguel Gallardo, Ernesto Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero, his death at the hands of drug lords and the CIA, and the DEA relations that followed Camarena's death. It counts among other with the testimonies of former DEA Héctor Berellez that led the investigation of Camarena's murder in operation Leyenda; Phil Jordan, former DEA Intelligence Director; Mike Holm, DEA resident agent in charge in Guadalajara when Camarena got kidnapped; and Manny Medrano, former assistant US Attorney and Lead Prosecutor in Camarena case.[2][3][4]

In the telling of Camarena's wife and former DEA Phil Jordan and Mike Holm, Camarena cost the cartels billions of dollars when his investigations led the Mexican Army to burn down Ranch Búfalo, a major marijuana plantation.[2] Camarena earned further enemies by discovering that the CIA was working with the cartels to fund anti-communist Contras in Nicaragua.[2] The docuseries interviews the DEA agent who spearheaded the investigation of Camarena's death.[5] The agent, Hector Berrellez, states that the CIA agent Félix Ismael Rodríguez helped torture Camerena to learn what Camarena knew about US connections to Mexican cartels.[5] According to Berrellez, Camarena was killed because he was going to disclose these connections.[5] Also interviewed are employees and enforcers of the cartels who helped capture and torture Camarena, but later became witnesses for the DEA.[2]

The docuseries shoots footage in the home where Camarena was tortured and murdered, now an elementary school.[5] During interviews with Camarena's wife, she states that she believes neither the US nor Mexican governments told her the whole truth about her husband's death.[5] The CIA has denied any involvement in Camarena's death.[3][6]

The series features interviews with real persons involved in Camarena's life and death. [2][3]

Fictional events

Involvement of the CIA in an abduction and murder of Enrique Camarena is a fiction. While working for the DEA as a witnesses in 1992, former enforcers of the Guadalajara cartel Jorge Godoy, René López and Ramón Lira provided a detailed testimonies without any mention of the CIA or Félix Rodríguez.[7][8][9] Former DEA agent Salvador Leyva, who has interrogated, among others, Godoy, López and Lira together with his partner Héctor Berrellez, confirmed in September 2020 that witnesses talking for The Last Narc never spoke about any kind of involvement of the CIA. Leyva wrote and debriefed most of the informants in the Leyenda investigation and according to him, nobody ever said anything about the CIA in a connection with Camarena's death.[10] The main interrogator of Camarena actually was DFS agent Sergio Espino-Verdin.[11] Even one of the The Last Narc's participants Jorge Godoy confirmed in past that the interrogator was Espino-Verdin.[12]

Héctor Berrellez said in The Last Narc that Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo put a contract on his head, but it actually was Manuel Salcido Uzeta, alias El Cochiloco, who wanted to kill Berrellez.[13] Claim that Enrique Camarena has been close to discover the CIA's secret training camp for the Contras in Veracruz is also false because agents from the DEA's office in Guadalajara have never been responsible for any investigations in this Mexican state.[14] Berrellez also said that his predecessors in the investigation of Camarena's death were unable to find at least one witness of the crime. But in reality, DEA already arrested two direct participants of Camarena's murder - René Verdugo[15] and Raúl López Álvarez.[16]

Production

The documentary's director, Tiller Russell, researched Camarena's murder for 14 years, and then shot and edited The Last Narc for two years.[5][3] Russell has kept his location a secret, fearing for his safety.[5] He said that after he asked Jorge Godoy one interview question, Godoy drew a pistol.[1][3]

The Last Narc was produced by Eli Holzmann and Aaron Saidman.[17]

Reception

The Daily Beast reviewed The Last Narc favorably, calling it a "a wide-ranging expose about the entangled relationship between the CIA, the Mexican government, the DFS (Mexico’s secret police, created by the CIA) and the cartels."[2]

According to the Florida-based CE Noticias Financieras, The Last Narc "is notable" for approaching the story of Camarena's death beyond the ordinary patriotic narratives of the US and Mexican government.[18] The newspaper writes that The Last Narc makes a convincing argument about Camarena's death: "In a blunt way, this work by Amazon also establishes something that has been ventilated before: the Sinaloa Cartel was a creation of the PRI regime through the DFS and the DFS, in turn, was a creation of the CIA."[18]

Lawsuit

On December 21, 2020 James Kuykendall, The former chief of a DEA field office in Mexico, sued Amazon and the makers of the documentary for falsely claiming he was complicit in the murder of Kiki Camarena. [19]

References

  1. ^ a b Nugent, Annabel (3 August 2020). "Director of Amazon's 'The Last Narc' had a gun pulled on him during filming". The Independent. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Schager, Nick (31 July 2020). "Did the CIA Torture an Undercover DEA Agent for a Mexican Drug Cartel?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e Young, Julius (30 July 2020). "'The Last Narc' director recalls pistol being pulled on him during docuseries exploring DEA agent's death". Fox News. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  4. ^ Messman, Lauren (1 August 2020). "What's on TV Saturday: 'Seeing America With Megan Rapinoe' and 'The Last Narc'". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Gotfredson, David (10 August 2020). "Documentary alleges US involvement in 1985 death of DEA agent". CBS8. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  6. ^ Norman, Greg (28 February 2020). "US probing claims that CIA operative, DEA official betrayal led to murder of agent: report". Fox News. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  7. ^ http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Matters/DEA%20Reports/Godoy%20Reports.pdf
  8. ^ http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Matters/DEA%20Reports/Lopez-Romero.pdf
  9. ^ http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Matters/DEA%20Reports/Lira.pdf
  10. ^ https://www.spytalk.co/p/tv-spies-amazons-wacky-cia-drug-war
  11. ^ http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Cases/Zuno%20Arce/Trail%20Transcripts/06-07-90.pdf
  12. ^ http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Pleadings/9th%20Cir%2095-50191/Verdugo%20Excrpt%20Record%20Vol%201.pdf
  13. ^ https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a23704/pariah-gary-webb-0998/
  14. ^ http://www.reneverdugo.org/pdf/Related%20Cases/Zuno%20Arce/Trail%20Transcripts/05-15-90.pdf
  15. ^ https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/856/1214/256491/
  16. ^ https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/970/583/269728/
  17. ^ Palmer, Katie (15 May 2020). "The Last Narc release date, cast, trailer: When does the real Narcos documentary air?". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  18. ^ a b ""The Last Narc"". CE Noticias Financieras English. 5 August 2020.
  19. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20201222063516/https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/james-kuykendall-lawsuit-amazon-the-last-narc-1234868193/
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