Edgar Valdez Villarreal

Edgar Valdez Villarreal (born August 11, 1973), also known as La Barbie ("The Barbie"), is a Mexican-American former drug lord and high-ranking lieutenant of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel.

Valdez is serving a 49-year prison sentence at USP Coleman II in Florida.

Valdez worked for several years as a Mexican cartel lieutenant alongside nephew Fernando Valdez, before rising to a leadership position in an enforcement squad called Los Negros.

Mexico’s attorney general said that between 2001 and 2005 Sutchi built a criminal empire based on drug trafficking, kidnappings and casinos, working with Mexico’s own mafia.

In a raid, police found photos showing Sutchi together with his friend Valdez in Sinaloa.

Mexican police had been searching for Valdez since his 2002 indictment on two counts of conspiracy with intent to distribute marijuana.

In their investigation, police raided homes that he had rented, locating grenades, automatic weapons and police uniforms.

Following the death of cartel boss Arturo Beltrán Leyva in late 2009, Valdez fought a protracted gang war for control of the cartel resulting in over 150 deaths.

He employed techniques such as videotaped torture and decapitation.

According to Mexican media reports, shortly after the death of cartel leader Arturo Beltrán Leyva on December 16, 2009, Valdez began to dispute the cartel's leadership and its territory; in 2010 one faction was led by Valdez and Gerardo Alvarez-Vasquez, while the other was led by Arturo's brother Héctor Beltrán Leyva and his lieutenant Sergio Villarreal Barragán.

In May 2009 Mexican authorities listed him as one of their 24 most wanted drug traffickers, and posted a 30-million-peso (US$2.3 million) reward for information leading to his capture.

Valdez pleaded not guilty and took out advertising in the local Monterrey newspaper, El Norte, describing himself as: "a legitimate businessman who had been forced to leave Nuevo Laredo and move to the neighboring state of Coahuila because he was being harassed for bribes by local police officers."

In 2009 the Justice Department posted a $2 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Mexican police said they tracked Valdez across five Mexican states for a year, a pursuit that intensified in the final months as they raided home after home owned by the drug lord, missing him but arresting several of his allies.

On August 30, 2010, he was arrested by Mexican Federal Police at a rural house near Mexico City.

In August 2010 four decapitated bodies were found hanging from a bridge in Cuernavaca, along with a message warning anyone helping Valdez of a similar fate.

Both sides engaged in similarly gruesome tactics intended to ward off the other; over 150 deaths are allegedly linked to the dispute.

US government reports allege that Los Negros has been known to employ local gangs such as MS-13 and the Mexican Mafia to carry out murders and other illegal activities.

On the morning of January 25, 2010, football player Salvador Cabañas was wounded by a gunshot to the head.

Through the recording of a CCTV camera, José Jorge ("JJ") Balderas Garza was identified as his attacker.

According to his own statements, due to their friendship Valdez-Villarreal himself was the person who gave "JJ" shelter to protect him from the police by placing him in one of his safe houses.

Benjamin Yeshurun Sutchi (killed in Mexico by the CJNG gang), a well-known Israeli drug dealer and a major player in the international cocaine business, was wanted by Interpol and was one of the best friends of Edgar Valdez Villarreal.

In June 2010 Valdez was indicted in a US court on charges of trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Mexico into the US between 2004-06.

Mexican officials claim that Valdez introduced to the US about one ton of cocaine per month.

On August 30, 2010, Valdez was captured by Mexican Federal Police near Mexico City.

His gang, known as Los Negros, collapsed by 2011.

He was intended to serve a 49-year sentence at USP Coleman II, a high-security US federal prison in Florida.

As of November 2022, he is no longer listed as being in the custody of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons, though it has been reported that this was due to certain circumstances involving "safety, security, or privacy reasons."

Valdez was born and raised in Laredo, Texas.

He was a popular high school football player.

His nickname La Barbie came from his American football coach at United High School; because of his blond hair and blue eyes, he was compared to a Ken doll.

Valdez's first arrest came at the age of 19 in Texas, where he was charged with criminally negligent homicide for running over a middle-school counselor with his truck while speeding down a Laredo street.

He was not indicted.

He became a marijuana dealer on the streets of Laredo while he was in high school.

He turned down his father's offer of financing a college education in order to focus on his business, but was soon indicted on charges of distributing marijuana.

To avoid capture he fled to Mexico, where he allegedly joined the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel and quickly moved up through the ranks due to his connections in the US.

He collaborated with both the DEA and the FBI while working as a drug trafficker.

Valdez came to lead the enforcement gang called Los Negros, who were engaged in a territorial dispute in the Nuevo Laredo region against Los Zetas.

Los Negros orchestrated kidnappings and recruited operatives, including corrupt police officers, military personnel and federal agents, according to the attorney general's office.

While the group was allegedly controlled directly by Valdez, it used to be overseen by the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel.