During a raid on a country house in Lerman, State of Mexico, federal police this week captured Texas-born cartel boss Edgar Valdez Villarreal, 37, who is also known as “La Barbie” due to his light skin and apparent resemblance to the Barbie doll’s “boyfriend” Ken.
Valdez may be deported to the United States where he is wanted for cocaine smuggling.
The arrest represents a major coup for President Felipe Calderon in the war on drug cartels.
Valdez was battling for control of the Beltran Leyva cartel, resulting in numerous gun battles, notably in Acapulco, Guerrero.
A video interrogation taped by police a day after his arrest and released to the media on Wednesday shows Valdez talking openly about his life in the drugs trade and confirming a meeting he attended in Cuernavaca in 2007 with drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman and other leading Mexican capos. In his testimony, he said he received his payments from the United States in dollars hidden in trailer compartments.
Valdez grew up in a middle-class home in Texas, say reports, and was an excellent American football player in high school.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual said the arrest of Valdez was clear evidence that Calderon’s costly fight against the drug barons was bearing fruit.
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