Mexico arrests 'drug lord' Edgar Valdez

The Leyva Cartel is searching for another Strong stand out kinda Person to replace Barbie Today , Captured yesterday , Barbie is just one more in the String of top Cartel leaders Captured or Killed over the Past year .


Mitoch_Photo

BBC
Mexican police have arrested alleged drug trafficker Edgar Valdez, a US citizen also known as Barbie, Mexico's attorney general says.

Officials said he put up little resistance when he was captured in a residential area near Mexico City.

Edgar Valdez is linked to the influential Beltran Leyva drug cartel.

Mr Valdez has been fighting Hector Beltran Leyva for control of the gang, previously led by his brother Arturo until he was shot dead last December.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis

Born in Laredo, Texas, Edgar Valdez Villareal had a meteoric rise to the upper echelons of the Beltran Leyva cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful criminal organisations.

As the alleged head of the hitmen for the gang, his high profile - and catchy nickname, Barbie, thanks to his fair complexion - made him one of the most famous cartel members and thus he joined the list of Mexico's most wanted men.

Since December last year, when one of the founders of the cartel, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed by security forces, he was vying for control of the organisation.

His career as a criminal comes to a screeching halt with Monday's arrest, which was celebrated by Mexican authorities.

Earlier this month, police found four decapitated bodies hanging from a bridge in the city of Cuernavaca and their heads were discovered nearby with a message warning that anyone supporting Edgar Valdez would risk a similar fate.