CAMARENA IS SYMBOL IN DRUG FIGHT

The U.S. postmaster general is being urged to issue a stamp honoring slain
DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. A special agent from Calexico, Camarena
was working in Mexico when he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered 15 years
ago by drug traffickers.

Diana Holly, a Redlands fifth-grade teacher, started the campaign for a
commemorative stamp, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein is firmly on board. Holly
wants youngsters to know there was a real person behind Red Ribbon Week,
the national anti-drug awareness campaign started after Camarena's death.
Red Ribbon Week is in late October.

Camarena's family continues to be involved in law enforcement. His sister,
Myrna Camarena, is secretary to the head of the S.D. Drug Enforcement
Administration office. Another sister, Lourdes, is a CHP radio dispatcher
in El Centro. And his son, Enrique Camarena Jr., is a deputy district
attorney working in the South Bay. Although not directly involved in the
campaign, the younger Camarena supports the idea and says he thinks stamps
are an effective way to draw attention to anti-drug efforts.

[snip]

Diane Bell's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays. Fax items to
(619) 293-2443; call (619) 293-1518, e-mail to: diane.bell@uniontrib.com or
mail to The S.D. Union-Tribune, PO Box 19120, S.D., 92112.