Ted Kaye was a senior official at the United States Department of State during the 1980s. In 1986, following the trial of Ruben Zuno Arce, he addressed DEA Administrator John C. Lawn, DEA Mexico operations chief Ed Heath, and Agent Walt Breslin and told them that he and the State Department wanted to shut down Operation Leyenda, as Dr. Humberto Alvarez Machain was complaining about illegal kidnapping and Zuno's confession that high-ranking leaders of the PRI were involved with the Guadalajara Cartel and in Kiki Camarena's murder could cause a deterioration of United States-Mexico relations. He then criticized a new anti-drug abuse bill which would cost Mexico millions of dollars in aid, and he also said that Breslin's operation in Mexico had been unsuccessful. Kaye told Breslin to disband his team and be happy that he still had a job (for the time being), and he then bought everyone else drinks before leaving.