I did not watch the Netflix show Narcos hence this is the first time I know about these hero agents: Kiki Camarena, Hector... stories. The quality of this documentary was beyond my expectation. Structured the story telling line very well.
65 Reviews
The Truth is Often Stranger and Uglier than Fiction
zippyflynn26 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I was a big fan of the Netflix series "Narcos" and the follow up "Narcos: Mexico" but after watching this documentary, which I highly recommend, I must admit that though the Netflix series were well done they are mostly fiction to the point of bad propaganda. It seems Kiki Camarena was the only honest DEA officer in Guadalajara, the others got huge bribes from the cartels which Kiki refused to take. He also was very thorough in his investigating the cartels and it was feared he knew the truth: the war on drugs was a total lie to cover CIA and US/Mexican government involvement, and a sizable portion of drugs getting into America ($35 million worth of just cocaine EVERY DAY) were coming in through and profited by the CIA. In fact, it was the CIA that ordered his abduction, torture, and murder. Felix Rodriguez, an infamous CIA operative was one of Kiki's interrogators. He was infamous for "interrogation" but we civilians call that torture. Kiki was tortured for 36 hours straight, had almost every bone in his body shattered before he fell into a coma that even adrenaline injected by a doctor could not bring him out of, so he had his skull crushed with a metal bar. The story of his abduction and murder being done by the cartels was fiction, it was the US government who ordered it, most likely coming from the top who, at the time, was vice-president George Bush. And it was all done to cover the CIA's drug operations that were in turn used as money to illegally fund the Contras in Nicaragua. Watch this documentary, it's a must-see. It'll probably make your blood boil as it did mine but as Gandhi said "the truth is still the truth even if only known by a minority of one." And you will also salute and respect the honest witnesses of police and DEA agents on both sides of the border who want the truth to be known. They are risking their lives and have all been told, to a person, if they spoke the truth they would be murdered. We need such real heroes to stop the worst of government actions. There's enough bad fiction out there already, no matter how well polished it is presented.
ASTONISHING
DebraIonaVogel8 August 2020
The thing that makes this docu-series so amazingly unique is the men who participated in making it. The men who were there.
It's the story of the war on drugs during the late 70s and 80s. The era of Nancy Reagan, her "Just Say No" campaign and Oliver North and the CIA aiding and abetting the Narcos while they were getting drugs into the United States, in part, to fund the Contras and their battle in Nicaragua. While everyone got rich.
The men who took DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena and put him through thirty-six hours of unspeakable horror to find out how much he knew. One of his tormentors was a CIA agent. That's not conjecture or imagination; it's a documented fact.
We meet Hector Berrellez, the DEA agent in charge of finding the truth behind the whom and why, exactly, of his murder. Why he's not a household name is beyond me. He should be.
We meet the men who know they're damned, beyond redemption, and want to finally tell the truth- the whole of it. We see their faces and hear the facts about Kiki and the unfortunate tortured tourists whom, at the time, were incorrectly identified as DEA by the insane heads of the Narcos.
We meet Kiki's widow. She was waiting, that awful day, to meet him for lunch with less than weeks before they were out and safely back home. She recalls it as though it happened yesterday. The men who took him, also, have very clear recollections and haunted eyes-just as they should.
It's hard to watch, but the tale has to be told! Their backstories are fascinating, the details are unbelievable yet true.
This was one of the best, if not THE best documentaries I've ever had to force myself to sit through. It'll break your heart and enrage you. But, we owe it to Kiki and the hundreds of thousands of people involved.
If you think you know about the era, the war on drugs, you'll be blown away. Those eyes, of the men whom were there, tell it in a way that will both enlighten and haunt you.
It's the story of the war on drugs during the late 70s and 80s. The era of Nancy Reagan, her "Just Say No" campaign and Oliver North and the CIA aiding and abetting the Narcos while they were getting drugs into the United States, in part, to fund the Contras and their battle in Nicaragua. While everyone got rich.
The men who took DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena and put him through thirty-six hours of unspeakable horror to find out how much he knew. One of his tormentors was a CIA agent. That's not conjecture or imagination; it's a documented fact.
We meet Hector Berrellez, the DEA agent in charge of finding the truth behind the whom and why, exactly, of his murder. Why he's not a household name is beyond me. He should be.
We meet the men who know they're damned, beyond redemption, and want to finally tell the truth- the whole of it. We see their faces and hear the facts about Kiki and the unfortunate tortured tourists whom, at the time, were incorrectly identified as DEA by the insane heads of the Narcos.
We meet Kiki's widow. She was waiting, that awful day, to meet him for lunch with less than weeks before they were out and safely back home. She recalls it as though it happened yesterday. The men who took him, also, have very clear recollections and haunted eyes-just as they should.
It's hard to watch, but the tale has to be told! Their backstories are fascinating, the details are unbelievable yet true.
This was one of the best, if not THE best documentaries I've ever had to force myself to sit through. It'll break your heart and enrage you. But, we owe it to Kiki and the hundreds of thousands of people involved.
If you think you know about the era, the war on drugs, you'll be blown away. Those eyes, of the men whom were there, tell it in a way that will both enlighten and haunt you.
You probably just saw this as a fiction "Narcos: Mexico"
eryui2 August 2020
If you saw Narcos Mexico probably you just know the whole story but this time it's no fiction. It's a doc that tell the whole dark side about what happened to Dea agent Kiki Camarena and the Guadalajara (Mexico) cartel managed by Gallardo, Carrillo and Quintero
By archive footage and interviews to the real survived characters, the director rebuilt the whole story in a raw and interesting way.
9/10
9/10
Breathtaking
weijunyu-642162 August 2020
Best documentary for 2020
gunnygoose4 August 2020
Outstanding
SpacemanBob31 July 2020
Eye opening docu-series about the kidnapping, torture, and murder of DEA Agent "Kiki" Camarena by Mexican cartel leaders. Through interviews with those who lived it comes an intriguing story with a lot of twists. Some of what comes out is frankly hard to believe. Corruption, crime, conspiracy: this has it all. Highly recommended.
Well produced story with the right people telling it
taranruther3 August 2020
A MUST WATCH if you have seen Narcos Mexico This is a side of the story you've never heard before, and when you hear it unfold through these credible sources, you'll think differently about the CIA and our government. You can tell there was immense about of time and planning that went into putting this together. There's a huge part of Kiki's demise that is uncovered that is missing from Narcos Mexico, and any news story you might have heard.
Not what you expect
razielrising1 August 2020
I anticipated a true account of the Camarena kidnapping and killing, talking heads of those involved. I enjoyed Narcos:Mexico and was hoping to hear from the actual people. This was that and more. This documentary series sure takes a turn and more engrossing and thrilling than most movies today.
Excellent...with just one little "but"
gcarpiceci7 January 2021
The documentary is as eye-opening as it is disturbing; the facts it brings to surface are shocking and what hurts is that they are credible, as they fall quite logically in the dirty jigsaw that was the Iran-drug-Contra affair of that period.
There is just one element which left a little bug in my mind; the testimonies are undoubtedly powerful, very emotional, yet it remains difficult to forget that most of them come from informants, snitches, and as always with these people the doubt remains: are they telling ALL and ONLY the truth or just that part of the truth needed for them to be credible?
I also thought it unfortunate that this excellent documentary closed with a low note, ie the phone conversation with an anonymous source - that is bad journalism and moreover not needed at that point.
Incredible
bbjones-9292812 August 2020
I don't want to give anything away but the revelations in this documentary have stayed with me for days. I still can't believe it. I never write reviews but had to for this one.
Major props to all the people involved who helped put it all together. Unfortunately not too many watch amazon prime relative to Netflix so my hope is that it gets nominated for an Oscar to bring some more awareness to it.
Just an excellent overall documentary!
Major props to all the people involved who helped put it all together. Unfortunately not too many watch amazon prime relative to Netflix so my hope is that it gets nominated for an Oscar to bring some more awareness to it.
Just an excellent overall documentary!
Why? Why redact names?!
jakebrann5 August 2020
The whole purpose of this series was to expose corruption and those involved... then you end the series with a phone conversation with someone who was there and possibly has HUGE answers and gives the name of a DEA big shot at the consulate that was receiving 4 million dollar pay outs (that he personally handed this mystery person) and you REDACT his name?! WTF is up with that? I would have rated this a 10 until you pulled that $hit!
Cool Story Bro
Xavier_Stone2 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I loved the Narco series and the last season details the Kiki story quite well. This documentary is also done reasonably well except that they left out the evidence.
They do explain that DEA Form 6 reports are like "stone" and can't be deleted/shredded yet somehow the Lead Investigator filing them can't provide a single copy of one. Hector sent boxes and boxes of documents to his superiors and of course nothing happened, and he didn't save them. Nothing other than eyewitness stories from bodyguards who he paid with a $3 million dollar budget. Hmmmmm.
The series itself starts off well but it gets more disappointing the further is goes. It ends rather unsurprisingly with a disguised audio feed from an unknown source accusing a CIA member of conspiracy, and of course this person's name is redacted, as well as the source. Ugh.
They do explain that DEA Form 6 reports are like "stone" and can't be deleted/shredded yet somehow the Lead Investigator filing them can't provide a single copy of one. Hector sent boxes and boxes of documents to his superiors and of course nothing happened, and he didn't save them. Nothing other than eyewitness stories from bodyguards who he paid with a $3 million dollar budget. Hmmmmm.
The series itself starts off well but it gets more disappointing the further is goes. It ends rather unsurprisingly with a disguised audio feed from an unknown source accusing a CIA member of conspiracy, and of course this person's name is redacted, as well as the source. Ugh.
Mind Blowing & Explosive
AudioFileZ1 August 2020
I could attempt to give a review or synopsis but the only thing worth saying is you should see this . If like me you've seen the panoply of docs on the cartels and drug landscape of the eighties you may not give another drug doc much traction. That would be a huge mistake as I'd say this is singular. This focuses in on an event that blew up into an international incident and forced a heightened response. Only that response was laid over the top of a far more sinister and complicated story. One that may have never been told and, unfortunately, is quite mind-blowing and explosive in the worst way.
Must Watch , eye opening and 100 percent credible
jclossantos20 November 2020
In Case you missed it, the name that was redacted in the end, the person who was given 4 million dollars by the cartel was KiKi's boss DEA Supervisor Jaime Kuykendall. Jaime Kuykendall was at the cartel meetings planning the the kidnapping of Kiki and set kiki up. CIA Felix Rodriguez was the one interrogating kiki as he got tortured to death because he thought kiki knew the CIA and the DEA were in bed with the Cartel to fund the illegal war in Nicarragua. This is the sickenning truth. And these fools are still out there retired enjoying their blood money. God will Judge them in the end. And if anything happens to Hector or any of the other brave men in this Doc.we all know who is responsible.
Better then Narcos : Mexico
pareshmovies5 August 2020
Excellent updating of an old story
jpmcphaul2 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This story first come out when the villain Rafael Caro Quintero was released from prison in 2013 At the time a publication called Insight on Crime examined the documentary evidence and came up with a dispassionate verdict that the CIA ties to the Guadalajara cartel were true, but no documentary evidence existed to tie the agency to Kiki's murder. That was before the identities and testimony of the three Mexican police insiders who Hector was able to flip and who appear in the series were made public. The big missing piece of the puzzle is the identity of the DEA agent who allegedly betrayed Kiki. But those who have followed the case and who listen closely can guess easily enough.
A Good Documentary
eqzxqj2 August 2020
When I heard about this series, I couldn't wait to watch it. I love watching tv series or documentaries about real life people, it makes you think on how our system works. This series is a eye opener. I grade this a 10/10!
Believe in the interviewees
MiguelAReina22 January 2021
The story of the murder of agent "Kiki" Camarena in a different version than the one offered by "Narcos: México" (Netflix, 2018-). It is a well-made documentary, but it is sustained in the interviews with characters whose sincerity does not seem to be their main virtue. The director believes their story. But it might have been interesting to back up these statements with a more objective investigation.
Powerful
nissan-993017 August 2020
If you knew little to nothing about this, do not swallow whole
movieswithgreg2 August 2020
Structurally, this doco looks good, but is needlessly fragmented as if it's intentionally edited in an effort to be "innovative" or clever.
In terms of content, wow. I am familiar with the events and some of the persons involved, and of the nature of the accusations leveled herein. They're not anything close to reasonably supported by evidence. You either "believe in" them, or you won't, but mostly you'll probably say "doesn't sound right to me, but who the hell really knows." The so called evidence presented here, isn't much better than the evidence of the JFK assassination conspiracies.
Just remember, the main guy asserting the claims, is a former disgruntled employee of the organization he worked for.
In terms of content, wow. I am familiar with the events and some of the persons involved, and of the nature of the accusations leveled herein. They're not anything close to reasonably supported by evidence. You either "believe in" them, or you won't, but mostly you'll probably say "doesn't sound right to me, but who the hell really knows." The so called evidence presented here, isn't much better than the evidence of the JFK assassination conspiracies.
Just remember, the main guy asserting the claims, is a former disgruntled employee of the organization he worked for.
Best me up, beat me down...
btowngurl-shopping1 August 2020
Democracy doesn't mean spreading terror. - DaShanne Stokes
And yet ironically that's exactly what happens when our government seeks a means to an end for their choices and decisions not to be transparent. I'm apoplectic having watched this doc on yet another tragic example of American government failing to work for its citizens. America may fail under democratic leaders as well, but those failures tend to pale under the often malevolent mismanagement of Republican government politics suiting their own agendas rather than doing what's right for America. From Reagan, Bush Sr., and now Trump terror, big money, corruption and avarice rules. It takes years of lies, cover-ups and even murder to curtail its venemous bite and voracious appetite.
Learning about these horrific events that took place in the 80s, with much left untold, only makes the current climate more frightening and exacerbates the facts that governments claiming to be for the people rarely are in tandem the way it was designed to be. Selling out the Constitution for all the wrong reasons happens more than we know. A lot of blood covers a multitude of politicians hands here and abroad. Sadly there's been no justice in this heartbreaking story nor in Washington D.C. as well.
And yet ironically that's exactly what happens when our government seeks a means to an end for their choices and decisions not to be transparent. I'm apoplectic having watched this doc on yet another tragic example of American government failing to work for its citizens. America may fail under democratic leaders as well, but those failures tend to pale under the often malevolent mismanagement of Republican government politics suiting their own agendas rather than doing what's right for America. From Reagan, Bush Sr., and now Trump terror, big money, corruption and avarice rules. It takes years of lies, cover-ups and even murder to curtail its venemous bite and voracious appetite.
Learning about these horrific events that took place in the 80s, with much left untold, only makes the current climate more frightening and exacerbates the facts that governments claiming to be for the people rarely are in tandem the way it was designed to be. Selling out the Constitution for all the wrong reasons happens more than we know. A lot of blood covers a multitude of politicians hands here and abroad. Sadly there's been no justice in this heartbreaking story nor in Washington D.C. as well.
Just WOW
mstaffordca1 August 2020
I mean really I'm speechless.. Let me think of how I can best describe this for you. I began this series with very little expectation. I had very little knowledge about the topic but I must say you can FEEL the reality of the stories about half way through the first episode. AND BTW GREAT JOB AMAZON! THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS STORY TO THE PUBLIC/MASSES!!! There are no embellishments here. Proves yet again fact is always crazier than fiction! I feel SO terribly sorry and angry for Mika and her boys.. And poor Kiki! WTF! I hope his family sues the US government now! They deserve everything! 90% of the dirty rotten scumbags ARE STILL ALIVE AND WELL TODAY WITH ZERO REPERCUSSIONS! Thank you Hector for having the courage to come forward! I hope you also sue the US government for wrongful termination/forced retirement or whatever you can! The honest American people will stand behind you! Thank you Kiki for your service and I'm so sorry that the country you fought for BETRAYED YOU! And thank you too Hector. Thank you to ALL who took part in putting this fantastic docuseries together. I am forever changed by it.
Hard to digest
joshclasin18 August 2020
The first narco series I ever saw was Pablo Escobars narco and I came to know that Kiki murder was everything that made US govt to go Hard against drugs ,but with the last narco I came to know that US govt and Kiki own agency DEA and CIA were also involved in his brutal torture killing ,Kiki is an true hero who died in his of cartel and his own govt . The pilot who helped Kiki is also an hero.Really likes the way Geneva Camarena explained the story or his part.I wish justice should be served For Kiki scarify. DEA hector you did an great job true hero and I'm glad you haven't ended up as Kiki in this govt play.
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