On Wednesday, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pleaded with the US to uncover the whereabouts of a known drug dealer whose name had vanished from the US jail database.
Edgar Valdez Villarreal, a Mexican-American known as “La Barbie” due to his pale skin, was apprehended by Mexican authorities in 2010 and extradited to the US, where he was given a 49-year jail term.
According to recent media reports, the former Beltran-Leyva cartel henchman is no longer visible while searching the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ online prisoner database.
Lopez Obrador told reporters, “The United States administration needs to clear things up as quickly as possible,” adding that Mexico was expecting a response.
He said, “We’re going to keep asking them,” calling the situation “strange” given that the trafficker still had a significant amount of time to spend unless he made a deal with American officials.
The Texas-born Valdez “is not presently in the custody” of the U.S. federal agency,” according to the Bureau of Prisons, which might be due to a number of factors.
According to the statement, “Inmates who were previously in BOP custody and who have not completed their sentence may be outside BOP custody for a length of time for court hearings, medical treatment, or for other reasons.”
For reasons of safety, security, and privacy, the statement said, “We do not give precise information on the status of detainees who are not in the care of the BOP.”
Prosecutors claim that Valdez started his drug dealing business in Laredo, Texas, and quickly had cocaine clients in Memphis and New Orleans. Prosecutors claim that he later became involved with Arturo Beltran-Leyva, who at the time was connected to Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in Mexico and the Sinaloa Cartel.
Prosecutors said that Valdez then organized the use of speedboats and aircraft to transport cocaine into Mexico while also paying bribes to local law enforcement officers. The cocaine was reportedly subsequently transferred into the United States over the border. According to the prosecution, Valdez climbed to the position of chief enforcer for the cartel and organized a fight against the Zetas and Gulf Cartel, two of his competitors in Mexico.
Prosecutors said that the wiretaps, over 100 kilos of cocaine, $4 million in criminal revenues, and witness testimony all helped DEA agents establish their case against Valdez.
The Justice Department said that Valdez was “ruthlessly working his way through the ranks of one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels, leaving in his wake many lives devastated by narcotics and violence” when he was sentenced in 2018.
»Mexico urges U.S. for drug lord’s whereabouts«