Berrellez - The Last Narc: A Memoir of the DEAs Most Notorious Agent

THE LAST NARC

A Memoir by the DEAs Most Notorious Rogue Agent

by HECTOR BERRELLEZ

Published in collaboration with Renaissance Literary & Talent
Post Office Box 17379
Beverly Hills, CA 90209
www.renaissancemgmt.net

Copyright 2020 Hector Berrellez
Ebook Edition Copyright 2020 Hector Berrellez

ISBN: 978-1-950369-26-3

Cover Art by: Judy Bullard

www.customebookcovers.com

Edited by Jacklyn Saferstein-Hansen

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than thatin which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

CONTENTS

The truth about the 35-year-old murder of Kiki Camarena had to be told. Kiki deserves justice, deserves the truth. Hector made it his mission to expose what he discovered and how Kiki was and continues to be betrayed by those he trusted.

Phil Jordan, former DEA agent

Hector was an old-school, dedicated and fearless lawman. Im glad he was on our side.

Ed Heath, former supervisor, DEA, Mexico

Hector Berrellez is a stone warrior, whose astonishing life story took him from the barrios of Tucson to the killing fields of Mexico and the halls of power in D.C. and into the heart of darkness of the most notorious murder in the history of the Drug War. He survived gunfights, assassination attempts and a deep state conspiracy. The fact that he lived to tell the tale is nothing short of miraculous.

Tiller Russell, film director, Operation Odessa, The Last Narc

THE LAST NARC

A Memoir by the DEAs Notorious Rogue Agent

For Gary Webb, Chuck Bowden and Hector Berrellez Sr.
Wish you guys where here.

My mother was a woman who could see the future. I am a man who is haunted by the past. It hasnt yet killed me, but it has debilitated me, seeping up and into my roots, poisoning me but keeping me alive. I thought of this last year when I watched Mexican drug kingpin Joaqun El Chapo Guzmn on TV as he was being extradited to the United States. He had been free for some time, having brazenly escaped from Altiplano, the maximum-security prison he was held at in Almoloya de Jurez, Mexico. Now he was being charged with over 17 drug-related charges on six separate indictments. But not one of those indictments or charges was his most egregious crime: conspiracy to commit the murder of federal agent Enrique Camarena, a fact I uncovered during my Operation Leyenda investigation.

El Chapo should not even be alive. He should be dead or rotting in jail somewhere. Instead, he smiles condescendingly as agents usher him from one international jurisdiction to the next. And why shouldnt he be? Hes fat. Rosy-cheeked. Rich. And famous. In fact, he had just been featured in Rolling Stone magazine while on the lam, interviewed by Sean Penn. This is a man who boldly proclaimed, I might not be the president of Mexico, but I am the boss. And as hes smiling while cameras follow him, in some twisted way, I think hes smiling at me.

The past will always haunt me.

All events seem to take on a life of their own. Events become stories. Stories become legend. And legend becomes myth. Cases too are like this. Operation Leyenda was not just a murder investigation. It was a microcosm of our countrys misconceived War on Drugs, of our perception of good and evil, light and dark, heroes and villains. But lost somewhere in the translation and elevation of Leyenda was the truth.

People are not always comfortable with the truth. Americans in particular like our truth in black and white, right and wrong. When the veil of our preconceived notions of truth are lifted, it causes a paradigm shift in our world view. It challenges our faith. And it often leaves us morally confused and disconnected from the greater good that we all aspire to. I know this first hand.

History repeats itself. Until American drug policy changes, unfortunately, the events of Operation Leyenda will be played out in infinite loop. As the global narco-trade grows, the tragedies of these events will metastasize, no longer confined to Mexico and Central America.

They will be in Asia. Or Afghanistan. Or, in the case of the Obama administrations Hezbollah investigation, Project Cassandra, the Middle East. Some of these failures may come to light. Others, like Leyenda, may become legend. But it is important to remember that while the casualty of legend may be truth, the casualty behind truth is people: agents with families. Agents who are put in danger. Or compromised. Or even killed.

It has taken me almost 30 years to come to peace with the events of Leyenda. Though the wounds it left behind will never fully heal, I will no longer let it define me. I am proud of my service as a DEA agent. I am proud of what the agency stands for. And I am proud that I fought the good fight. Even so, if I could live my life all over again, I would turn down the assignment of Leyenda. That investigation cost me my career, destroyed my family and deeply penetrated my soul where my innocence was forever lost. I thank the Lord for one thing, and one thing only: that I was not extradited to Mexico by my government and murdered there to cover up what I discovered. My story would have died with me. Instead, within these pages, it lives.

My story would have also died had it not been for so many of the brave men and women of the DEA, who constantly risk their lives attempting to fulfill their dream of a drug free America for our citizens. Additionally, I want to individually thank Paul Gerard for helping me find my voice, Matt Ochacher for believing in me, and Tiller Russell and Eli Holtzman for bringing my story to life. My gratitude also goes to: Kenneth Starr, former United States Solicitor General, Bob Bonner, former Director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. And a special thanks to former Assistant United States Attorney Manny Medrano and his colleagues John Carlton, Jimmy Gurul and Adam Schiff.

I would also like to mention Operation Leyenda Special Agents Doug Kuehl, Jim Spurr, Salvador Leyva, Marty Martinez, Wayne Schmidt, Tom Morales, Delbert Salazar, Susanna Baldwin, and all the other agents who helped the investigation. This also includes the good people of the Mexican Federal Judicial Police: Guillermo Gonzles Calderoni, Florentino Ventura, Enrique Lopez and Jos Luis Larrazolo Rubio.

A heartfelt mention and thanks go to my closest DEA brothers: Phil Jordan, Ed Heath, Mike Holm, Mike Bansmer, and Eddie Follis and Art Berrellez. I trust you guys with my life and there is no one else Id rather have on my side in a gun fight.

A special thanks to the team at Renaissance Literary and Talent: Alan Nevins, Jacklyn Saferstein-Hansen and Lauren Boone. You not only helped shape and polish this book, you facilitated getting it into the hands of the public so the truth could take flight.

Finally and most sincerely, Id like thank my mother, Consuelo Chatita Berrellez. You will always be my North Star. To my sons Hector Pinky Berrellez, Christopher Berrellez, my lovely, wonderful daughter Crystal Cuenita Berrellez, and my grandson Hector Little Hector Berrellez. You guys are the reason Im alive today.