Anchorage, Alaska. (January 11, 2025): To little kids, an Air Force member in a crisp uniform is the perfect role model, especially when it comes to resisting the lure of drugs and alcohol. In this photo by Alejandro Peña, Sergeant Latavia Despojo with the 176th Security Forces Squadron teaches a Klatt Elementary School student to use her radio during Red Ribbon Week. The nation's largest and longest-running drug awareness and prevention program, Red Ribbon Week promotes a healthy and drug-free lifestyle among the nation's youth.

The tradition has dark roots, however. Red Ribbon Week began after the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena and his pilot Captain Alfredo Zavala-Avelar in 1985. Camarena had been working undercover in Guadalajara, Mexico for over four years before his kidnapping and slaying by drug traffickers. Camarena was targeted after he exposed a multimillion-dollar marijuana manufacturing operation.

His murder was chronicled in the U.S. media and exposed the violent world of drug trafficking happening on America’s border. It displayed for the world the brutality and corruption of some Mexico authorities and how far drug cartels would go to maintain their power.

After the men were found murdered, citizens in Camarena's hometown donned red ribbons in his honor and it became a symbol for efforts to protect children from the ravages of substance abuse. In 1988, the National Family Partnership coordinated the first National Red Ribbon Week with President and Mrs. Reagan serving as honorary chairpersons.

The DEA established a Red Ribbon Week Patch Program to provide the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts the opportunity to earn a special patch by engaging in anti-drug activities. Out of the terrible tragedy of Camarena's murder has come an annual effort to empower young people to resist drug peddlers and live a substance free life.