Monroe mayor makes Red Ribbon Week official

Drug prevention week inspired by DEA agent’s death in 1985

The proclamation has been read and the city has been adorned with red ribbons. Thanks to Love an Addict founder Samantha Franklin, Red Ribbon Week has officially arrived in Monroe.

A national campaign representing a commitment to a drug-free America, Red Ribbon Week takes place every year, from the Oct. 23-31. Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas helped Franklin set things in motion last week by formally proclaiming this week as Red Ribbon Week during the Monroe City Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 18. On Thursday, Oct. 20, Franklin invited Thomas to Fryelands Elementary School, where he read the Red Ribbon book to a group of students.

The book, “The Red Ribbon: A Story of Hope,” is a children’s book, so it doesn’t specifically offer anti-drug language. Instead, it seeks to spread a message of love and hope by emphasizing the power of compassion, perseverance and coming together as a community.   

After the reading, the kids enjoyed interacting with the mayor, sticking around for many high-fives.

Franklin has coordinated numerous red ribbon-related activities that will be ongoing throughout this week, including another reading of the Red Ribbon book by the mayor. The second reading is open to the public, and takes place at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, at the Monroe Library.

One of the oldest and largest drug prevention campaigns in the United States, the Red Ribbon Campaign was founded in 1985 after the violent kidnapping, torture and murder of  Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.

Red Ribbon Week commemorates Camarena’s sacrifice by promoting and encouraging a drug-free lifestyle.

Camarena served in the United States Marine Corps for two years prior to going into law enforcement. He worked as a criminal investigator for the Calexico Police Department and a narcotics investigator with the El Centro Police Department before joining the DEA in 1974. Camarena achieved many honors during his time with the DEA, including two Sustained Superior Performance Awards and a Special Achievement Award. After his death he was given the Administrator’s Award of Honor, the highest-ranking award given by the DEA.

In 1985, he was working in Guadalajara where he was kidnapped and murdered by members of a Mexican drug cartel, but not before being subjected to 30 hours of torture. The cartel obtained the services of a “doctor,” to prolong Camarena’s life during the torture.
He was 37 years old when he died.   

What happened to Camarena left an indelible mark on law enforcement officers around the country, including former Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office East Precinct Detective Danny Pitocco, who was with the DEA when Camarena went missing. Pitocco was a junior agent at the time, tasked with manning the phones on the weekends at DEA headquarters in Los Angeles, California.

He picked up the phone at one point, and the caller indicated he had information about Camarena, who went missing on Feb. 7, 1985. His body wasn’t found until March.

“The information that I had led to the doctor that kept him alive during torture,” Pitocco said.

Pitocco left the DEA later that year to join the Santa Ana Police Department. When he left, he received a letter of commendation recognizing a few of his accomplishments. It thanked him for his “fine contribution to the federal drug enforcement mission,” including his significant contribution to the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of Camarena. The May 31, 1985, letter was penned by one of his superiors.  

The idea of wearing a red ribbon to honor Camarena’s sacrifice and promote a drug-free lifestyle was born in Camarena’s hometown of Calexico shortly after his death. Today, Camarena’s legacy lives on, as Red Ribbon Week is recognized and embraced by an estimated 80 million people around the United States. The overarching goal of the Red Ribbon Campaign is to help ensure kids across the country grow up healthy, safe and drug free.
Franklin was excited to bring Red Ribbon Week to Monroe.  

Franklin is passionate about ensuring that drug prevention education happens at the elementary school level, which is one of the reasons she worked so hard to coordinate a week’s worth of themed activities at Fryelands.

Her mission with her organization, Love an Addict, is twofold. First, she seeks to promote the message that “addicts are not the drugs that hold them,” in order to help counteract the harmful stigma that addicts face when they first get clean. Second, she wants to positively impact kids at the elementary school level, and encourage them to lead healthy lives.

For more information about Love and Addict, visit facebook.com/Loveanaddict. For more information about Red Ribbon Week, visit redribbon.org.