He was one of the most well-known drug enforcement agents, killed in the line of duty.
Wednesday, millions of young students wore red ribbons in his honor and pledge to stay drug-free. The widow of Enrique Camarena has not given up his mission, and traveled to New Orleans to continue his fight.
DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena was only in his late 30s when he was kidnapped and killed by drug traffickers in Mexico in 1985. Since then, his widow Mika, continues his mission.
"Enrique lived a short life, but he accomplished so much. He was a good father. A good husband. A spectacular DEA agent, and we miss him very much," said Mika Camarena through tears.
New Orleans DEA agents joined her at Nelson Charter School in Gentilly for Red Ribbon Week, the week named in her late husband's honor. She still sheds tears when she delivers her message of how deadly drugs are.
"I learned to understand his work more after he left, and I realize that the community, the leaders, the, the parents, friends, schools, needed to do a lot more. We needed to help law enforcement," she said.
Nelson students got to see an NOPD canine officer in action finding hidden drugs. And the DEA flew a surveillance helicopter to the school to give the children a hands-on tour.
"It was good. I want to fly one. I want to see how it feel," said student Mike'kell Jones.
But while the day was entertaining to the students, the serious message did not get lost.
"It touched my heart because he tried to, he tried to stop drugs from harming other people, but it seems like other people wanted drugs to harm people," said 6th grader Tia George.
"Drugs can cause a lot of things, including death," said 8th grader Briante Groomes.
And that is something Mika is trying to stop as she visits schools around the world.
The following links can help parents and children learn more about staying drug-free:
Meg Farris can be reached at mfarris@wwltv.com.