Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Man Implicated in Killing of DEA Agent 'Kiki' Camarena Is Arrested
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 6 years ago on
May 3, 2019

Share

EL CENTRO — A convicted drug trafficker implicated in the 1985 torture and killing of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena was arrested in Mexico and returned to California to face a charge of probation violation.

Ezequiel Godinez Cervantes, 77, was arrested Wednesday in Mexicali by authorities acting on information from the FBI that he had crossed the border, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Godinez was handed over to U.S. authorities at the border and arraigned Thursday in federal court in El Centro. It was unclear whether he has a lawyer.

Camerena Worked in DEA’s Fresno Office

Camarena, who was born in Mexico, served in the U.S. Marine Corps and then became a police officer. Camarena first joined the DEA in 1975. Two years later, he transferred to the agency’s Fresno office. In 1981,  moved to DEA’s Guadalajara office in Mexico.

The Netflix series Narcos: Mexico tells Camarena’s story from his return to Mexico through his kidnapping, torture, and murder by the now-defunct Guadalajara Cartel.  The horrific death marked the first time a cartel had attacked and killed a U.S. drug agent.

The cartel was reportedly run by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and Rafael Caro Quintero, the latter of whom was added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list in 2018 — with a $20 million bounty — for his alleged involvement in Camarena’s death.

Godinez Accused Several Times of Murder

Godinez was wanted since last year for probation violations involving a 1997 federal court case in California, court records indicate. That case involved a previous prison-escape conviction, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Godinez, a Texas native, was a member of the Guadalajara Cartel, according to law enforcement. Witnesses implicated Godinez, although he was never charged with Camarena’s 1985 killing, the Union-Tribune said

The same witnesses implicated him in the 1984 kidnap-killings of four Jehovah’s Witnesses as they sold religious books door-to-door in Mexico. But Godinez also wasn’t charged in their deaths, the paper reported.

Godinez Convicted of Drug Trafficking

In the 1990s, he was charged with the 1985 slayings of two U.S. residents in Guadalajara. The men, one from Texas and the other from Minnesota, unwittingly entered a bar where drug traffickers were partying and were stabbed with ice picks and beaten to death.

Godinez was arrested in Texas in 1996, but the charges against him were dropped the next year.

Godinez also was convicted of federal drug trafficking charges in Texas in the 1990s.

Camerena’s Son Is a Judge

Enrique S. Camarena Jr. became a San Diego Superior Court judge in 2014. At his swearing-in, he said he was following his father’s “legacy of duty.”

Watch: The Life and Legacy of ‘Kiki’ Camarena

DON'T MISS

Chris Wallace Is Leaving CNN, Eager to Explore New Media Landscape

DON'T MISS

Merced’s Iconic Laura Fountain Returns to Splendor With $300K Restoration

DON'T MISS

If You Thought Trump Wasn’t Serious About Deportations, Look at His First Appointments

DON'T MISS

Biden EPA to Charge First-Ever ‘Methane Fee’ for Emissions Waste by Oil and Gas Companies

DON'T MISS

Trump Picks Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to Be Ambassador to Israel

DON'T MISS

At the Pandemic’s Start, Americans Began Drinking More. They Still Are.

DON'T MISS

Last GOP Congressman Anchored in Democratic LA County Concedes in Race Against Former NASA Exec

DON'T MISS

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

DON'T MISS

Speaker Mike Johnson Says Republicans Are ‘Ready to Deliver’ on Trump’s Agenda

DON'T MISS

Wall Street Slips as the Trump Trade Cools

UP NEXT

Merced’s Iconic Laura Fountain Returns to Splendor With $300K Restoration

UP NEXT

If You Thought Trump Wasn’t Serious About Deportations, Look at His First Appointments

UP NEXT

Biden EPA to Charge First-Ever ‘Methane Fee’ for Emissions Waste by Oil and Gas Companies

UP NEXT

Trump Picks Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to Be Ambassador to Israel

UP NEXT

At the Pandemic’s Start, Americans Began Drinking More. They Still Are.

UP NEXT

Last GOP Congressman Anchored in Democratic LA County Concedes in Race Against Former NASA Exec

UP NEXT

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

UP NEXT

Speaker Mike Johnson Says Republicans Are ‘Ready to Deliver’ on Trump’s Agenda

UP NEXT

Wall Street Slips as the Trump Trade Cools

UP NEXT

49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan Says Players’ Sideline Spat Has Been ‘Squashed’

Biden EPA to Charge First-Ever ‘Methane Fee’ for Emissions Waste by Oil and Gas Companies

59 mins ago

Trump Picks Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to Be Ambassador to Israel

1 hour ago

At the Pandemic’s Start, Americans Began Drinking More. They Still Are.

2 hours ago

Last GOP Congressman Anchored in Democratic LA County Concedes in Race Against Former NASA Exec

2 hours ago

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

2 hours ago

Speaker Mike Johnson Says Republicans Are ‘Ready to Deliver’ on Trump’s Agenda

2 hours ago

Wall Street Slips as the Trump Trade Cools

2 hours ago

49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan Says Players’ Sideline Spat Has Been ‘Squashed’

2 hours ago

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott Will Have Season-Ending Surgery on Torn Hamstring

2 hours ago

Judge Delays Ruling on Whether to Scrap Trump’s Conviction in Hush Money Case

2 hours ago

Chris Wallace Is Leaving CNN, Eager to Explore New Media Landscape

NEW YORK — Chris Wallace says he’s leaving CNN after three years and, at age 77, is eager to see what a transformed media environment ...

1 min ago

1 min ago

Chris Wallace Is Leaving CNN, Eager to Explore New Media Landscape

47 mins ago

Merced’s Iconic Laura Fountain Returns to Splendor With $300K Restoration

52 mins ago

If You Thought Trump Wasn’t Serious About Deportations, Look at His First Appointments

59 mins ago

Biden EPA to Charge First-Ever ‘Methane Fee’ for Emissions Waste by Oil and Gas Companies

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump talks with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee during a roundtable at the Drexelbrook Catering & Event Center, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
1 hour ago

Trump Picks Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to Be Ambassador to Israel

2 hours ago

At the Pandemic’s Start, Americans Began Drinking More. They Still Are.

2 hours ago

Last GOP Congressman Anchored in Democratic LA County Concedes in Race Against Former NASA Exec

2 hours ago

Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Aid Entering Gaza

Search

Send this to a friend