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Enrique
"Kiki" Camar=
ena
grew up in a dirt-floored house with hopes and dreams of making a difference.
Camarena worked h=
is way
through college, served in the Marines and became a police officer. Whe=
n he
decided to join the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, his mother tr=
ied
to talk him out it. "I can't not do
this," he told her. "I'm only one person, but I want to
make a difference." =
=
The
DEA sent Camarena to work undercover in Mexico
investigating a major drug cartel believed to include officers in the
Mexican army, police and government. On Feb. 7, 1985, the 37-year-old <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Camarena left his office to meet his wife for
lunch. Five men appeared at the agent's side and shoved him in a =
car.
One month later, Camarena's body was found =
in a
shallow grave. He had been tortured to death.
=
In
honor of Camarena's memory and his battle a=
gainst
illegal drugs, friends and neighbors began to wear red badges of satin.
Parents, sick of the destruction of alcohol and other drugs, had begun
forming coalitions. Some of these new coalitions took Camarena
as their model and embraced his belief that one person can make a diffe=
rence.
These coalitions also adopted the symbol of Camare=
na's
memory, the red ribbon.
=
The
National Family Partnership organized the first Nationwide Red Ribbon
Campaign in 1988. Since that time, the campaign has reached millions of=
U.S.
children.
=
In 1997,
the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse began committing resourc=
es
to ensure the continuation of the Red Ribbon Campaign in Texas, as well as the hopes and be=
liefs
behind this grassroots effort to protect children from the dangers of
alcohol and other drugs. <=
o:p>
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![3D"Red](3D"RedRibbonHistory_files/image002.gif")
![3D"Enrique](3D"RedRibbonHistory_files/image003.jpg")