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Friday, December 2, 2022

From A Hitman To A Protected Witness

"Sol Prendido for Borderland Beat

Edgar Valdez Villarreal "La Barbie" was one of the Sinaloa Cartel's most bloodthirsty hitmen in the midst of the "war on drugs. A North American from Laredo, Texas, he entered the criminal world at an early age across the border, but his criminal skills secured him a position in the Mexican mafia.

First on his own, then with the Beltran Leyva and later for Sinaloa, "La Barbie", nicknamed for his blue eyes, white complexion and blond hair, killed, trafficked drugs, weapons, money and spread terror. He killed in cold blood as he ordered others to commit crimes in his name. He made a fortune of millions in the underworld that allowed him, with impunity, to amass houses, land, jewelry, vehicles and whatever his luxury whim was.

It is still in the collective memory that time, in 2009, when he was apprehended by the Mexican authorities and, upon "presenting" him to the press, he was allowed to wear tennis shoes, a Polo shirt and Levi's to show off the good life with a smile on his face.

But even with all the statements, the accusations, the declarations of detainees and collaborating witnesses, Edgar Valdez was not prosecuted in Mexico, the country where he committed most of his bloodiest crimes.

Between his arrest in 2009 and his extradition in 2015, "La Barbie" was sentenced to formal imprisonment in Mexico, in a trial in the Third District Court of the State of Guerrero, criminal case 57/2005, for the crimes of organized crime, illegal deprivation of liberty in the form of kidnapping and possession of rounds for the exclusive use of the Mexican Army. However, as it usually happens, he was not sentenced. If he had been, he could have received between 20 and 40 years in prison for organized crime, or between 30 and 50 for kidnapping. But no. Mexico let him go without sentencing him.

In the United States, Edgar Valdez Villarreal was sentenced to 49 years in prison, when he reached an agreement with the prosecution to avoid life imprisonment; he was supposed to finish serving his sentence in 2056. There he was charged, prosecuted and sentenced for four drug trafficking crimes and one for money laundering. He was also fined 192 million dollars.

But a few days ago, uncertainty prevailed regarding the whereabouts of "La Barbie". The last information on the prisoner was that he was serving 49 years in a U.S. prison, but a search in the U.S. prison system showed, or at least gave the impression, that the bloodthirsty capo had been released. In the search for his location, his name did not appear as a person officially deprived of liberty.

Even the Mexican government, through President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was unaware of the whereabouts of the drug trafficker who committed his crimes on national soil.

Evidencing the lack of coordination, understanding and common strategy, AMLO criticized in one of his morning conferences the possibility that the drug lord was at large, and demanded a response from the U.S. Government. It would not come through the direct channels of the Presidency.

In his visit to Tijuana, which more than a work tour as Minister of Foreign Affairs, was a pre-electoral tour as Morena's presidential candidate and before the pressure of national reporters who accompanied him in his campaign events, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubón declared that "La Barbie" was still in prison, as he had been informed by the United States, although he did not specify neither the prison where the drug trafficker is being held, nor the future that awaits him.

Contacts in Washington confirm that Valdez Villarreal is still incarcerated, although they do not specify for how long he will remain in that capacity. What they do say is that the former bloodthirsty Sinaloa Cartel hitman, drug trafficker and leader of the Beltrán Leyva's armed wing, will become a protected witness for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"La Barbie", they assure, has reached an agreement with the authorities to be a key witness in the trial that will begin in the first days of 2023 against Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Security in the federal administration of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, apprehended in the U.S. on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.

It would not be the first time that Edgar Valdez has pointed the finger at Genaro García Luna. In 2009, shortly after his arrest, he publicly denounced him in a letter as the one who received money from organized crime to protect them. Textually, in a letter sent to the newspaper Reforma, "La Barbie" said: "Genaro García Luna, head of the Federal Public Security Secretariat (SSP), who at least since 2002, first in the AFI and then in the PFP, I know has received money from me, from drug trafficking and organized crime, as well as a select group made up of Armando Espinoza de Benito, who worked with the DEA and passed information to me; Luis Cárdenas Palomino, Edgar Eusebio Millán Gómez, Francisco Javier Palacios (PF Colombia), Igor Labastida Calderón, Facundo Rosas, Ramón Eduardo Pequeño García and Gerardo Garay Cadena, who also form part of and receive money from organized crime and from me".

The imprisoned drug lord also accused Calderón Hinojosa of a strategy to "sit down" with his former Interior Secretary, Juan Camilo Muriño, with cartel leaders in Mexico.

Of course, at the time, the Mexican authorities did not investigate "La Barbie's" allegations to determine if there were crimes to prosecute against public officials, or if it was an act of defamation. Nothing, nothing was investigated. In the end, several of those mentioned in Valdez's letter would end up in prison, as is the case of Genaro García Luna.

To date, they trust from the United States, "La Barbie" has been taken into custody and eliminated from the public system of prisoner location to protect the integrity of the man who, they presume, will be fundamental in the trial against García Luna. "They want him to arrive alive", they justify.

The agreement reached by the drug trafficker is to testify in the trial against the former Secretary of Federal Security, provide evidence (it is assumed) of his statements and contribute to the sentencing of García Luna in exchange for becoming a protected witness. That he be assigned an identity different from his own, an address in some region of North America and other types of collaborations and official protection, so that he can live his life in freedom.

The 49 years to which he was sentenced would be cancelled. The crimes pending trial in Mexico will continue to wait. By agreement, "La Barbie" will achieve a pact of impunity in his country, even for the crimes he committed in Mexico.

One of the most bloodthirsty hitmen that the Sinaloa Cartel has ever had, will live in peace, thanks to a benevolent government like that of the United States, particularly with the criminals who commit crimes in Mexico, and to prove with García Luna what they could not with General Salvador Cienfuegos: that drug trafficking is infiltrated in the center of the Government of the Republic, not to mention the states.

Zeta Tijuana

59 comments:

  1. The article definitely doesn’t sound un-bias. They can bitch and moan all they want Barbie played the system and from the looks of it will win.

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    1. If you did years in prison then the system played you.

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    2. 10:44 and they are playing him now thinking he's getting a good deal to go in the middle of nowhere and watching his back every second of every day.
      If he slips up he will wind up dead

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    3. He has several decades in prison in front of him. Lucky for him he wasnt killed in a Mexican prison. He is going nowhere but back to his cell when all is said and done.

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    4. Como dijo el Señor Guzman, “vamos a prometerle un million y aver como reaciona a no recibirlos” Siempre ay algo en la persona que tiene una major confianza en si mismo cuando no conocen nada. Por que creen que Sinjuejo Fuentes is not in jail and Garcia is?? This chump got rid of el H with Sinjuegos on the choppa. He was hiding for the last 3 years going out to nightclubs once a month with JJ some other ducking loser caught in his mess lol. Also I do strongly believe his sister had something to do with all of this since the beginning. Chapitos donde estan??? Valen bergas……

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  2. I don’t understand why you people keep on saying he was a hit man. Barbie did protected loads of merchandise and killed enemies but he was never a Sicario in any way. Even when he got arrested he clearly said he always worked on his own and not for someone else.

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    1. Of course he was lying when he said he worked on his own maybe toward the end he did . He clearly says I was friends with Arturo Beltran you don’t become his friend just because obviously he worked for him . Also when the Osiel Cardenas and the zetas were looking to kill him in Nuevo Laredo who did he reach out to so that they could stop looking for him . He reached out to Arturo and asked for him to vouche for him and so that he can talk to Osiel which Arturo did and the zetas backed off . And after saving his life literately ,dude joined Arturo

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    2. Lies you have no clue what you’re talking about 😂😂

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    3. Borderreporter was the first to site to report the theory that Arturo and Barbie had more of a "friendship" going on.

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    4. BorderReporter had good info back when that Journalist and right wing Republican had a lot of good info on CDS.

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    5. Whom Border Reporter I keep scratching my butt.... couldn't you possibly mean Borderland Best Reporters????

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    6. It was a site that had a lot of info in like 2008-2012, Michael Marisco, forgive me for not remembering the name, but he had good stories

      La barbie started with Los Chachos, when Osiel demanded taxes and other orders when CDG was taking Laredo, Barbie got recruited by Beltran Leyva's arm of Chapo/Mayo's Sinaloa Cartel

      Like Teo in Tijuana a few years later, it was a known strategy at the time, while Feliple Calderon declared war, a lot of wars broke out, and people flipped, like the Salguerio's in Juarez, El Jaguar, the old one, in Juarez

      Barbie tried to take the plaza in early 2000's and by /2006, but he was knocked back and out of Laredo by Los Zetas, who still hadn't broken from Osiel, who was detained in 2003? I believe

      Barbie than was in Acapulco, where he coordinated shipments and ran the plaza on the Beltrans's behalf, he had two of his best customers from Memphis hide out there, when they were indicted

      Craig Petties and Super Dave Warner, that was in 2007 or so.

      Then, when Beltran's broke apart from Chapo's, it tore apart everything, and Barbie was in no man's land, afraid of Arturo, who was unhinged, and began talking to the DEA

      After Arturo's death he formed CIDA or some early version, and tried to work Acapulco, when Hector Beltran El H was trying to kill him.


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    7. Thank you J. Speaking of El H, I always wondered 🤔 of El H's untimely death. To this day I feel like it was a little suspicious that he suddenly died 1 year before Garcia Lunas capture, of a heart attack right before he is extradited to the U.S and his body cremated almost immediately with no opportunity for a autopsy.

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    8. La Barbie was not a Hit Many or a a Sicario in any way. He was an enforcer but worked on his own stuff and drug trafficking the most. Some one should write a story about him but telling the truth and not the fake news from the media. La Barbie was a drug trafficker.

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    9. @9.09- People take ''leading a hit squad'' literally. Like he was out in the streets of Nuevo Laredo in an SUV and 40 was on the other side of town doing the same thing, hunting. Instead of both of them sat around in their luxury apartments surrounded by men, and phones, and food.

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    10. La Barbie was the 1st dude to record cartel executions and upload them to the internet. He shot that zeta in the head back in 06-07 and uploaded the video online.

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  3. He got away but just for now. Maybe Luna will talk too after a few more years.

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  4. La barbie was never a hit man the man was moving multi tons of cocaine sure he had his share of killings but he was not a hit man just like a hit man is not a narco.

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  5. Rein aus der Ferne gesehen war er sympathisch

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    1. Asi es no pasamos a la siguiente ronda .Ich sehne mich nach einem kalten Bier.

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    2. Ich bringe dir gleich ein Bier

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    3. You got that right.

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    4. Wenn ein Mann ein Bier braucht dann bringt es die Frau gern

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    5. I totally agree, if we only have had all of that info before, mexico could of won the world cup

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    6. 11:35 welcome back my German friend, hope you like reading articles, from Mexico. Don't mind Sir and his outlandish remarks.

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    7. Ans lets not forget chapo snitched, on the rest of your comment you are 100% correct

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    8. Ich hätte Mexico die Weltmeisterschaft gewünscht♥️aber gut vielleicht beim nächsten Mal

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  6. From the evidence is clear he lead a squadron of assassins against Los Zetas now if he did it for personal reasons or because he was working under Arturo Beltran thats debatable

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    1. He never lead a squadron.

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    2. Anybody that has to defend themselves wants to have a Death Squad for defense and prevention...
      but many times the police and the melitary sell out or hijack patriotism or just plain abuse their authority, for free.

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    3. His primary job was to eliminate Zetas . When CDS went to war with Gulf Cartel. La Barbie brother was killed by Zetas . This ia why he hates them so much.

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    4. He lead los negros. Negros main focus was to eliminate zetas and rojos...

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    5. Wasn't los rojos part of BLO?

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    6. Zetas are the reason la Barbie choose to get extradited cuz he kept getting bullied by Zs every prison he went in Mexico

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  7. People from Tamaulipas say the BLO sicarios including la Barbie were as bad or worse than the zetas

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    1. I doubt it no one comes near CDG or Z 😂

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  8. I really don’t think they will cut his sentence to nothing, maybe half? Maybe 20 years off. I can’t imagine they really NEED him from Luna, but the Justice Department really doesn’t want to lose Luna it’s too politically charged.

    Also, 2010 was when he was arrested. July? Or August

    Not correcting the author, I know it’s from Zeta

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  9. Acapulco💃🕺. Good for La Barbie the new polo Big 🏇are nice.

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  10. Sol:
    La Barbie was most likely transferred to Brooklyn MDC as part of a routine transfer of a witness. I am unaware of any information in the public domain to verify that he is in Witsec or has reached an agreement for a sentence reduction.
    As things stand today, he will be in U.S. custody until 2056. We won't know about any sentence reduction until it is made public.
    He still has crimes in Mexico to answer for. It's not that easy just to refuse to extradite him. They must get Mexico onboard for a sentence reduction in Mexico as well as the U.S. If ELMO doesn't want to play ball, they will simply wait until Mexico elects someone who does.
    In the end I believe he will get a sentence reduction in both the U.S. and Mexico and will be released long before 2056.
    There is no news story to his transfer. It was simply a routine transfer as part obtaining a witness to testify at trial.

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    1. Thank you for your words sir. It's always good to hear from wise individuals.

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    2. That's where you're a bit wrong. .. Barbie is a US citizen. They probably won't hand him over easily. Maybe a swap. But the only two names that come to mind is RCQ or Cienfuegos since AMLO screwed the pooch there

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    3. “ As things stand today, he will be in U.S. custody until 2056. We won't know about any sentence reduction until it is made public.” So in other words, your made up username here is Detroit, you don’t know anything that everyone else doesn’t know so bottom line you’re nothing special thanks for verifying. You’re so wise LOL! Well I don’t need to quote news articles I grew up with him and his sister in Laredo, partied with him in Acapulco and know more than anyone here it seems. I recently spoke to some of the family. Of course would I post it here in a comment that most likely won’t be “approved” NOPE. What I will say is 99% of you don’t know what you’re talking about. The other 1% is guessing. All that hustling was in another past life. He publicly begged to be taken out of México that multiple groups wanted to kill him it was just a matter of time. He’s a US citizen you can get that handing him over to crooked México where he’ll be killed out of your head.

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    4. 11:42. Nothing is official until its official. But we can make some likely deductions based on everything we know. Feel free to post your information! Or please email it to us if you prefer that.

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    5. @11.42- ''bottom line you're nothing special thanks for verifying.'' What the fuck is the matter with you? It was a valid post.

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  11. Villarreal was responsible for the death of other criminals. Garcia Luna was responsible for the death of Mexican Service men along with criminals and innocent civilians. Let's not forget, a soldiers whole family was executed as a result of Garcia Lunas actions against Arturo Beltran. If La Barbie doesn't serve his full sentence or is not extradited to Mexico to pay for his crimes there then justice was not properly served, but, I'm willing to look past that as long as GGL gets life in Supermax.

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    1. @ Luna may have ordered Arturo's assassination, and they took revenge against the corpse (Arturo would have been looking down with admiration btw, since he pioneered most of the cruel theatre we see today- Mantas, humiliating the dead, execution videos) but your comment is strange. BLO are responsible for that soldiers family, nobody else.

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  12. If he goes back to Mexico, he’s a dead man. His rival and old boss wants his head.

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    1. I thought his old boss was pushing up daisies. I totally agree with you he’s a dead man walking if he returns to Mexico. He begged to get out of there. He knew it was a matter of time before someone got to him.

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  13. To have all that money and power to become a sell out snitch, kind of kills his so called,bad ass persona.
    Mearly a coward now

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  14. The Justice system in America is fucked. La Barbie is known to have smuggled tons of drugs into us, killed and kidnapped many people, and he will probably get a nice plea deal. But someone in America who sells like a oz of blow could get decades in prison and because they don’t have info on all these higher ups they are left to rot in prison.

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    1. Yep. Even speaking on it is like kicking a dead horse. Situations like this happen over and over and over again. Little man gets fucked for life, big dope man can make deals. A game of cards.

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    2. 8:49 Don't forget to mention the Mexican justice system, it's 4 times worse, curuption of judges, bribes paid, criminals out the back door.

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  15. Small nit: La Barbie was arrested in 2010 (August)

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  16. And..my Uncles in USof A were good christians and legally grew tobacco for decades. They indirectly killed thousands from lung cancer! All depends on how you look at it.

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  17. Wonder what happened to all the money he made? Probably paid for her sisters college tuition to go to law school Isn't that ironic? Most of these guys don't have 401k plans so they either put under the mattress or spend it on lavish lifestyles on things they never had in their miserable lives.

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  18. Can someone do a story about la Barbie ? I think he was a real cool guy.

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    1. 12:37 yes.
      Once upon a time a baby was born in Texas, the mom loved barbie. And because he was born with Reddish hair, his name became La Barbie.

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  19. Rat 🐀 bastard not so tough now

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