Lucio R. Borderland Beat material for historical reporting from BB archives
Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "The Barbie", pleaded not guilty of charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, in an appearance before at the United States Courthouse, 75 Spring Street, S.W.. Atlanta, Georgia
He was transferred to Bexar County, before the hearing.
Valdez Villarreal appeared before federal judge Hon. William Simon. Duffey Jr., along with his father in law, Carlos Montemayor González, one of his alleged accomplices, who was arrested and then extradited with Valdez.
In the brief hearing on Friday, judge Duffey ordered the men held without bail.
Valdez was extradited, with 12 others, from Mexico to the United States on September 30th.
The 42 year old Valdez has charges he must face in multiple federal. In the Georgia federal district he and five others are accused of distributions of tons of cocaine to the Eastern United States between the years of 2004 and 2006. In the eastern district of Louisiana he faces charges stemming from a 2002 indictment.
Valdez was arrested in Mexico on August 30, 2010 and has been detained in Altiplano No1 prison in the state of Mexico since that date, fighting extradition. His last appeal was struck down over a year ago, but Mexico did not release him for extradition until September.
Valdez is known as the American achieving the highest status within a Mexican cartel.
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| Zetas interrogation prior to execution Warning Video on next page is an execution video |
Valdez' notorious acts of violence
While in Mexico Valdez became notorious for some of the most gruesome acts of violence.
Those who knew him and later ended up sitting on a bench facing prosecutors of SIEDO, gave information that sicarios under the leadership of Valdez conducted routine executions of innocent people without hesitation, including 24 farmers and masons from La Marquesa.
In 2006, Mateo Díaz López, a former military and a commander for Los Zetas, was arrested and told SIEDO that "La Barbie" was responsible for filming the execution of four sicarios. This video was sent to The Dallas Morning News on December 1, 2005.
"I know that that the Preventive Police and the AFIs abducted nine members of my group (Zetas) in a nightclub in Zihuatanejo, these men were in that city in order to fight for control of the plaza.”
"Once abducted, they took them to the city of Acapulco and there, they delivered the men to "La Barbie," who later released a video in which four of the men are seen being interviewed. Among them were "El Peterete," Vizcarra, and another man that I don't remember his alias. On the video these men said many things about Los Zetas," said Mateo Díaz on July 17, 2006.
According to Mateo during the interrogation, "La Barbie" forced the gunmen to say that Osiel was receiving protection from Santiago Vasconcelos, then head of SIEDO, with full intention to discredit him.
After interrogators, who are never revealed, (one is alleged to be "La Barbie") question the men, the video ends when a pistol enters the frame and shoots this man believed to be Vizcarra in the head (at left).
"In the video itself one can hear the voice of "La Barbie" directing the men on what to say and one of the persons shown is executed and turns out to be Vizcarra. Later on I learned that they had also executed all of the rest of the men and their bodies disappeared. Also in this video my companions say that the attorney Vasconcelos was involved with us (Zetas), which is not true, as this was only a strategy of "La Barbie"' to force the PGR to go after us," said Mateo Díaz
Below is the video warning it does show footage of Vizcarra being executed.