Accused drug-cartel boss wants to be deported to US

[Angelhair]

The Texas-born reputed drug trafficker know as "La Barbie" - a top-level cartel boss recently captured in Mexico - wants the U.S. government to spring him from Mexican custody so he can face justice in the United States.

The Houston lawyer of Edgar Valdez Villarreal sent a formal request to the U.S. ambassador to Mexico this week asking that the United States press Mexico to have Valdez deported as soon as possible.

Valdez is accused of directing a vicious, grisly battle for control of a drug-trafficking organization, as well as fighting other criminal rivals and government forces. Mass killings, beheadings and desecrated bodies are seen as La Barbie's calling cards, but so far he has not been charged with murder in the United States or Mexico.

He was arrested late last month by Mexican federal agents and is being held in Mexico City.

"It is my belief that as long as he is incarcerated in Mexico, his life is in danger from other prisoners and possibly from Mexican authorities," states a copy of the letter provided by Houston attorney Kent Schaffer.

The lawyer has said previously that Valdez knew it was only a matter of time before he was killed or captured and already had begun looking into options should he be caught. After his arrest by Mexican federal police, his alleged confession was posted on news media websites as well as YouTube.

Schaffer said in an interview that his client had not been physically coerced into a confession, but it was made clear that if he didn't say what authorities wanted as the cameras rolled his family would face consequences.


Accused drug-cartel boss wants to be deported to US

But of course - Mexico is salivating cause he is a born USA citizen. They just can't say it enough that he was born in the USA! Not taking into account the many, many killers that THEY breed. Ho-Hum

 

[LilOlLady]

Leave him in the hell hole he created.

 

[waltky]

La Barbie bein' extradicted to the U.S....

Mexico extraditing top capo, others from max security jail
Sep 30,`15 -- A Mexican official says drug lord Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," is being extradited to the United States.

The official says he will be sent to the U.S. with other prisoners from Mexico's maximum security facility, Altiplano. He spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

He did not say how many others nor why they are being sent now. Altiplano was the scene of a dramatic escape in July by the world's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Valdez was a top lieutenant to Arturo Beltran Leyva until Beltran's death in 2009, then led his own faction of the Beltran Leyva cartel until his arrest in 2010. He faces drug-trafficking charges in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.

News from The Associated Press

 

[waltky]

Guess El Chapo's escape woke Mexico up...

Mexico extradites two alleged drug lords to US
Fri, Oct 02, 2015 - Mexico has extradited to the US two high-ranking alleged drug lords, the attorney general’s office said on Wednesday, the two most prominent to be handed over since the escape of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in July.

The two men, Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez and Gulf Cartel capo Jorge Costilla, were among 13 defendants transferred to US authorities. They were sent by plane and are wanted for various violent crimes and drug trafficking-related offenses. Valdez, a US-born former leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel, according to Mexican and US authorities, was arrested in August 2010, during then-Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s battle with Mexico’s powerful drug gangs. Costilla, known as “El Coss,” a long-standing leader of Mexico’s Gulf cartel, was captured by the Mexican Navy in September 2012, shortly before Calderon left office. Following Guzman’s jailbreak, the Mexican government revealed it had received an extradition request from the US for the Sinaloa boss, who was the most-wanted drug lord in the world before his capture in February last year.

Edgar Valdez Villareal aka “La Barbie,” of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel, is presented to the media at the Federal Police headquarters in Mexico City, Mexico

Guzman’s escape through a 1.6km-long tunnel that surfaced in his prison cell was a major embarrassment for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, especially as he had also broken out of jail in 2001. Critics said Pena Nieto should have handed over Guzman given Mexico’s past record with him. The government had resisted doing so, citing national sovereignty, but since his jailbreak has appeared to change its stance on extradition. Nicknamed “La Barbie” for his fair complexion, Valdez became one of the most powerful figures in the Beltran Leyva cartel after Mexican soldiers killed former boss Arturo Beltran Leyva in December 2009, authorities said, triggering a power struggle within the gang.

Once close to Guzman, Valdez grew up selling marijuana in the US and developed a taste for luxury cars, nightclubs and designer clothes. The US Department of Justice praised Mexico for its efforts. “I am grateful to our Mexican counterparts not only for their assistance with this important matter, but also for their extraordinary efforts and unwavering partnership in our ongoing fight against international organized crime,” US Attorney General Loretta Lynch was quoted as saying in the statement.

Mexico extradites two alleged drug lords to US - Taipei Times