Drug War

Mexico Nabs Drug Lord Called 'the Barbie'

Blamed for horrific turf war, smuggled tons of cocaine.

Mattel should file suit shortly: Mexico has caught “the Barbie,” a drug lord allegedly responsible for smuggling tons of cocaine and a horrifically violent turf war marked by decapitations and dead bodies hung from bridges. Texas-born Edgar Valdez Villarreal got his nickname from his fair complexion, and he’s the third major drug lord nabbed by Mexico in less than a year. Mexican President Felipe Calderon tweeted that Valdez was "one of the most-wanted criminals in Mexico and abroad,” and police released a photo of the drug lord on his knees with a policeman’s hand on his shoulder. In May, Valdez was charged in U.S. District Court in Atlanta with smuggling thousands of pounds of cocaine from 2004 to 2006, though Mexican authorities haven’t commented on extradition. While struggling to wrest control of the Beltran Leyva cartel from the brother of its founder Arturo Beltran Leyva, who was killed in a firefight with marines last year, Valdez led an assassination squad that spread drug violence across Mexico.