SCHOOL UNVEILS MURAL HONORING SLAIN U.S. DRUG AGENT

Drug Agency Officials Attend Redlands Ceremony

REDLANDS - In a tranquil garden, Lugonia Elementary School students tore
away paper on a wall that faces a church to reveal splashes of color that
pay tribute to a man who died trying to keep drugs away from children.

More than 200 students, community members and federal durg agents gathered
at the school Tuesday to watch as students unveiled the colorful wall mural
created to honor the memory of slain Drug Enforcement Administration Agent
Enrique "Kiki' Camarena.

The mural, which took artist Christine Curry of Redlands two weeks to
paint, features smiling children wearing shirts with the words "drug-free'
and holding a bright red banner that reads "we honor Enrique Camarena.'

While in Mexico investigating a major cocaine and marijuana cartel,
Camarena was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by drug traffickers in
February 1985. He was 37.

Lugonia Elementary serves as home to the mural because it was Diana Holly's
fifth-grade class there that launched a campaign in 1998 to commission a
postage stamp honoring Camarena. The campaign is ongoing and the stamp is
awaiting the endorsement of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee.

Also in 1998, DEA Special Agent Alex M. Romero, who attended Lugonia and
Franklin elementary schools and graduated from Redlands High School, joined
Holly's efforts. Romero could not attend Tuesday's event because he was
working a case in another country.

"Mrs. Holly told me she wanted children holding a ribbon, and I drew it for
her,' said Curry, 23. "She had an idea of what she wanted in her head. The
mural also shows unity among the kids, and that's why I painted them all
different ethnicities.'

The Drug Enforcement Agency funded the mural project, which cost about $1,000.

"We're here to show our support for this great effort and to honor Agent
Camarena,' DEA spokesman Jose Martinez said. "Also to make everybody aware
that the epidemic of drug abuse continues.'

Camarena's family and DEA agents from the Los Angeles Field Division also
attended the event.

"When we see these murals like this and the eyes of the boys and girls here
this is why we do what we do,' said James Mavromatis, director of the El
Paso Intelligence Center. "We will never forget and we will never give up.'

Mavromatis said government and school officials were concerned about the
difficult rainy weather conditions under which Curry had to work to finish
the mural in time for the unveiling.

However, Curry was able to finish the mural during the recently sunny days
right before the unveiling, he said.

"When Kiki was alive, the DEA was like a family, and it still is,' said his
sister, Bertha Camarena. "Like Mr. Mavromatis said, God was watching over
the artist painting the mural, and I believe Kiki was looking at all of us
today and this effort with a big smile.'

Camarena's death is also part of the history behind Red Ribbon Week, a drug
abuse awareness week in October celebrated by schools nationwide. Wearing a
red ribbon became a tribute to Camarena's memory after schoolchildren in
his hometown of Celxico began wearing them after his death.

The message about why staying away from drugs was so important was not lost
on the students who attended Tuesday's event. Fifth-grader Amber Fulton
called the mural "beautiful.'