Michael Amador

Michael Amador was the seller of the Cordilla virus, which he acquired from rogue Ukrainian scientists. He was killed by a car bomb planted by Stephen Saunders during Day 3.

Day 3
On Day 3, Amador was to meet with Ramon Salazar and Jack Bauer in Mexico to sell the virus. However, these plans were changed when Nina Myers appeared, also looking to purchase the virus. Amador held an auction for the virus, with Myers' bid of $240 million besting Jack's $225 million. Jack later convinced Nina to help him retrieve the virus for $20 million, and the exchange between Amador and Myers was completed. However, the Delta Force and Chase Edmunds moved in after Salazar, now in possession of the virus, tried to kill Jack. When Jack and Chase pursued Salazar, it was revealed that the virus was a fake, the vial actually contained an explosive which killed Salazar. Amid this chaos, Nina almost escaped, and Amador was trapped. However, Amador's own team of marksmen took out the Delta-3 team and he escaped.

Amador then traveled to Los Angeles, where he delivered the real virus to Stephen Saunders at a nightclub. It was revealed that Amador's actions in Mexico were not in any way connected to the 'real' terrorist plan, but simply to gain extra money for himself. After strongly disapproving of Amador's visit to Mexico, Saunders left the club while Jack and Chase closed in on Amador's location. Jim Wong, an undercover agent sent by a SWAT captain, was discovered by one of Amador's guards, so Amador executed him. CTU then ambushed Amador and took him into custody. Still in the club, Amador was interrogated by Jack and Chase demanding to know the location of the virus and the identity of the man behind the terrorist plot. Amador delivered a cryptic warning to Jack, saying that he "has no idea" what he's up against (Amador was speaking of Saunders, who was previously involved in Operation Nightfall with Jack before Day 1). Jack offered Amador protection for himself and his family, but he still refused. The palm of Amador's hand was slit in the questioning, and he passed out.

The Chandler Plaza Hotel's entire security layout was discovered on Amador's laptop, which allowed CTU to act and intercept the Cordilla virus. Though CTU was able to act and contain the virus, Gael Ortega and most of the hotel's occupants were lost.



Amador awoke and again refused to tell who he was working for. While Jack and Chase went to analyze an incubator found at the nightclub, Amador was hand-cuffed to a pipe in the adjacent room. Amador managed to release himself from the pipe and escape, but unbeknownst to him his escape was a setup and Kim Bauer at CTU was tracking Amador with an implanted tracking device planted on his bandage. Kim informed Jack and Chase, who began to follow Amador, running parallel to his location via car.

Amador called Saunders, reporting himself being detained but escaping from CTU agents. Saunders, curious, asked if Jack Bauer was one of the agents, which Amador confirmed. Amador then took evasive actions at Saunders' request, attempting to throw off Jack and Chase.

Amador met with one of Saunders' men, Dorman, for transportation and funds to escape the country. Dorman gave Amador a briefcase, supposedly containing his money and travel papers. However, the case was loaded with explosives which detonated immediately after Amador opened the briefcase. Amador and the driver were incinerated, presumably because of both Saunders' disappointment of his greed and suspicion of him being trailed by Jack. When Jack and Chase arrived on the scene, Saunders called them to initiate his plan to hold the entire country hostage.

Background information and notes

 * Amador had a family that was never seen on-screen.
 * In 24 The Game, when Nina Myers makes her cameo appearence when she is told about the attack on CTU, we see the computer she is working on and close up we see Nina is looking up information on Michael Amador.