In His Father's Footsteps

Enrique Camarena Jr. Follows His Father Into Law Enforcement

(CBS)  One of the most notorious drug cases of the 1980s involved murderous thugs in Mexico, and what they did to a U.S. drug enforcement agent. But this is more than a story of law enforcement. It is a story of a father and son, a love and a legacy that could not shatter an American Dream.

Enrique Camarena always dreamed of following in his father's footsteps.

"When I was little I wanted to be a police officer," he recalls. "And my dad kind of ordered me not to be one; said it was too dangerous."

Camarena still chose a career in law enforcement. He is now deputy district attorney in San Diego County. "This," he says, "is about as close as I can get to being a police officer without actually being one."

His father, Enrique Camarena Sr., was a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Guadalajara. "I was aware that he was an undercover agent; I don't think - at the time I didn't realize how dangerous it was," says his son.

His father risked his life infiltrating the inner core of Mexico's drug cartels.

"He was the sheep just hanging out with the wolves, because these guys were ruthless, and obviously he got a little too close to their liking," Camarena says.

On Feb. 7, 1985, Camarena Sr. was abducted outside the U.S. Consulate. "I remember my mom being a little nervous because he didn't come home, and that had never happened," the son says.

Authorities conducted a car by car search along the Mexican border, but came up empty. One month later, Camarena's body was found. He had been brutally beaten and tortured.

At the age of 11, Enrique shouldered a heavy responsibility. "A lot of it was, 'I have to be strong; I am now the man of the house,'" he says. "And I also felt a drive to be someone, and to make something of myself," he says.

He did, although it wasn't easy. "A number of times when I grew up I thought, 'I have an excuse to fail," he says. "I went through something that was pretty bad, pretty horrible. But I don't like falling back on things. So I move on and I make things work."

He truly honors his father by what he is and what he has become, while successfully carving out a name for himself.

Now, he himself is a husband and a father. But he hasn't forgotten the man he was named after. "It gives you some sense of purpose and hopefully makes you an example, and he was an example to a lot of people," he says. "And I hope I can just pass that on to my children."

Final note: The former head of Mexico's anti-drug campaign was among 22 people ultimately charged in the kidnapping and death of Enrique Camarena Sr., fallen hero to a son and a nation.