According to reports, Camarena was tortured for 30 hours at Gallardo's ranch, getting his ribs broken, his skull crushed, and even a hole drilled into his head, among other inhumane acts. A cartel doctor, Humberto Álvarez Machaín, reportedly kept Camarena conscious during the torture by implementing drugs. Camarena's body was later found on March 5, 1985, in La Angostura, 70 miles outside of Guadalajara. Gallardo and his accomplices Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero were declared the main suspects, and Machaín was arrested. A bodyguard, Javier Vásquez Velasco, was also taken into custody.
Camarena posthumously received the Administrator's Award of Honour, the highest award given by the DEA, and his memory lives on in a yearly golf tournament, as well as the nationwide Red Ribbon Week that was established in his memory that teaches youth to avoid drug use and the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation that is committed to drug and other violence prevention.