Xinhua: Mexico catches U.S.-born drug lord "La Barbie"

[Twoller]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english201...c_13470657.htm

Mexico catches U.S.-born drug lord "La Barbie"

Image released by Policia Federal de Mexico on Aug. 30 shows major drug trafficker Edgar Valdez, Villareal. Federal police caught Valdez in a residential area near Mexico City, the government said. (Xinhua)

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Mexican authorities told Xinhua Monday they have captured "La Barbie" Edgar Valdez Villarreal, a U.S.-born criminal with a long career leading the nation's drug cartels.

An official with the Attorney General's Office (PGR) confirmed the arrest, but said she was not authorized to give further details.

Mexican newspapers reported Valdez was arrested by federal police close to the border between southern Mexican states Morelos and Guerrero.

Valdez had worked for the Sinaloa Cartel and its breakaway group the Beltrn Leyva cartel, which was dismantled in a recent police operation.

He is also wanted by a federal court in southern U.S. city Atlanta for smuggling thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. soil between 2004 and 2006.

Valdez's main crime partner, Jose Gerardo Alvarez, alias El Indio, was captured in April.

And also at the Canadian National Post

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Mex...302/story.html

Mexicans hope drug lord’s arrest may be turning point

MEXICO CITY — Mexico paraded one of its most violent drug lords on Tuesday after a police raid that President Felipe Calderon’s government hopes will mark a breakthrough in its campaign against powerful cartels.

But the capture of Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez, a Texas-born 37-year-old, may do little to halt the flow of drugs into the United States or staunch bloodshed in Mexico’s most violent areas, many of them along the U.S. border.

....

Officials say Valdez, as a leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel based in central Mexico, trafficked a tonne of cocaine each month and was responsible for “several dozen” murders.

He is believed to be behind merciless beheadings of rivals, torture and mutilation of victims, and for ordering the slaughter of the family of a marine who took part in the killing of his former boss Arturo Beltran Leyva in December.

But Valdez’s operations were small compared to Mexico’s top gangs — the Sinaloa, Gulf and Juarez cartels — which smuggle the majority of the 140 tonnes of cocaine the United Nations estimates that Mexico exports to the United States every year.

....

Valdez had been a top contender to head the Beltran Leyva cartel since its boss was killed by soldiers in December.

Born into a middle-class family, Valdez is said to have played American football at school and developed a taste for luxury before coming to Mexico to work in the drug trade.

Anchor baby? Anyone know?

[ilbegone]

Originally Posted by Twoller

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english201...c_13470657.htm



And also at the Canadian National Post

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Mex...302/story.html



Anchor baby? Anyone know?

Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "Barbie"
Nació en Laredo, Texas. Es de piel blanca, cuerpo atlético, rubio y con ojos azules. Su corpulencia física y actitud violenta le han valido convertirse en el principal pistolero del narcotraficante Arturo Beltrán Leyva.

***

MEXICO.- Uno de los capos de la droga más violentos y más buscados en México y Estados Unidos fue detenido, informaron las autoridades y dijeron que Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "La Barbie", tenía vínculos con el crimen organizado en el centro y sur de América...

...Valdez Villarreal nació en Laredo, Texas, el 11 de agosto de 1973, lo que lo convierte en el único ciudadano estadunidense en la lista de narcos de cárteles mexicanos por los que el Departamento de Estado ofrece recompensa.

Muchos individuos nacidos en Estados Unidos abundan en los niveles inferiores de los cárteles, pero el sitio alcanzado por Valdez Villarreal no tiene precedente. Valdez Villarreal, de tez blanca y ojos azules, estudió en la escuela preparatoria United High School, de Laredo, donde según el periódico The San Antonio Express News, era prácticamente una celebridad.

La vida de Valdez Villarreal dio un vuelco el 29 de mayo de 1992, cuando estaba por concluir su último año de preparatoria, cuando fue detenido bajo cargos de homicidio por negligencia criminal.

http://noticias.aol.com/2010/08/30/c...apo-la-barbie/

[Twoller]

Exactly what use is it posting a news item in Spanish? Speak English.

[ilbegone]

Originally Posted by Twoller

Exactly what use is it posting a news item in Spanish? Speak English.

It was very usefull as a slap at your McCarthy-esque preoccupation with "Anchor babies", which is akin to Chairman Mao's "ten year leap forward" hunt for "reactionaries" and "capitalist running dogs".


I'll give the core info, and mix in content from an article in today's Press Enterprise (associated press). Give a little thought as to the national origin of individual writers.



It says that Edgar Valdez was born In Laredo Texas August 11, 1973 and rose to become one of the principle gunmen for Arturo Beltran Leyva.

Valdez has white skin, blond hair and blue eyes (PE says green eyes) (which is why he is called "La Barbie" I believe its a reference to the doll.) as well as an athletic body. He has a violent attitude.

Valdez attended United High School in Laredo and according to the San Antonio Express News he was practically a celebrity. His life took a turn in his senior year with an arrest on a lesser negligent homicide charge.

The Cartels have quite a few foot soldiers who were born in America, but the heights Valdez Villareal reached has no precedent.

***

The PE article says that Valdez grew up in a middle class suburb popular with Border Patrol agents, police officers and fire fighters; his father was a nightclub and bar owner. Valdez is called "La Barbie" for his fair complexion and green eyes.

PE adds that that Valdez was a linebacker in high school and a small time street dealer as a teen. Valdez's first arrest at 19 was a criminally negligent homicide charge for allegedly running over a middle school counselor while speeding in Laredo. He wasn't indicted.

After that, he accumulated a minor rap sheet including DUI, public intoxication, and speeding. He was a small time drug dealer according to a former undercover cop.

Valdez left Texas to work for the Beltran Leyva Cartel, living illegally in Mexico.

He rose quiclkly through the ranks, becoming in succession Arturo Beltran Leyva's top personal bodyguard and head of the cartel's Acapulco operations.

Valdez lived a life of luxury, owning expensive homes in Mexico City and a bar called Xxxotica in Acapulco.

After Mexican Marines killed Arturo Beltran Leyva, a vicious war broke out between Valdez and Hector Beltran Leyva.

***

It seems that some of the content in the Associated press article was a rip off from a wikipedia entry, there are direct quotes without attribution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Valdez_Villarreal

[Twoller]

Along with the witless name calling, you failed to the answer the question.

Was the dope-dealing scumbag an anchor baby? Were his parents US citizens? Pretty simple question.

Anyone else care to give it a try?

Here's another question, if he wasn't an anchor baby, then where did he become fluent in Spanish? He must have been fluent in Spanish, else he could not have run an organized crime syndicate out of Mexico.

[ilbegone]

Originally Posted by Twoller

Along with the witless name calling, you failed to the answer the question.

Was the dope-dealing scumbag an anchor baby? Were his parents US citizens? Pretty simple question.

Anyone else care to give it a try?

Here's another question, if he wasn't an anchor baby, then where did he become fluent in Spanish? He must have been fluent in Spanish, else he could not have run an organized crime syndicate out of Mexico.

I didn't call you any names, just described your behavior.

Have you ever been to Laredo?

Give it a try sometime, stroll around the streets in both the barrio and on snob hill, you might learn something.

Here's another quote for you:

A former counterterrorism agent with the U.S. State Department said "He's a kid you would not expect, coming from a nice family, upper-middle class, living the American dream. The next thing you know, he's swallowed up in this narco business and has become highly successful."

Money has a way of "persuading" people, even you.

Money talks and bullshit walks.

...When Edgar Valdez played high-school football in his home town of Laredo on the Texas-Mexico border, a coach nicknamed him Barbie because of his blond hair, fair complexion, and the colour of his eyes...

...Unlike most traffickers, who are born into poverty, Mr. Valdez hails from a middle-class family. He played American football at school, became bilingual and developed a taste for luxury cars, nightclubs and Versace clothes...

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/wor...150/story.html