La Barbie’s In-Law Pleads Guilty and Shares Secrets

Chivis Martínez for Borderland Beat

The attention to the apprehension of Miguel Treviño Morales, a.k.a Z40, brings to mind another high profile capture that has faded from the headlines.   Since his 2010 capture the  American born narco boss, Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez, has been sitting in Mexico’s supermax prison; Altiplano No1 in Almoloya de Juarez, in the state of Mexico. 

Altiplano No.1 is the same prison that Treviño now occupies.  It is the only prison in Mexico globally recognized as a true supermax prison, there has never been a successful prison break from No.1. 

It has been three years when the Texas born capo was captured in August 2010, in a rural area outside Mexico City.  AT the time of his capture, Valdez, 39, was with his teenaged wife, daughter of Carlos Montemayor González, 39, a.k.a., El Charro (photo at left).  Valdez' was another capture of a high profile narco, sans gunfire.

The dual citizenship holder, Mexican-American Valdez was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, who became involved with the enforcer group “Los Negros”, the group worked for the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel (BLO)  under the leadership of Arturo Beltrán Leyva.  Valdez rose to the top of Los Negros and its leadership by the time Arturo Beltrán Leyva, leader of BLO was killed in 2009. 

After the death of Arturo Beltrán, Valdez fought a bloody, prolonged war for control of the cartel that resulted in over 150 deaths.  Valdez is accredited with employing methods of terror such as video-taping torture and decapitations.  He is accredited with being the first to video tape decapitations and release the footage to the public.  The videos found their way to narco blogs and other social media outlets.

After the arrest of Valdez, his group collapsed by 2011.

The peculiar behavior of Valdez, subsequent to his arrest, caused for speculation that he turned himself in and had cut a deal with Mexico, the US or both.  The narco-polo wearing capo was exhibiting  an “'I've got a secret” grin,  that at times, even in his perp presentation, would cause him to bow his head from a fit of the  giggles. 

The extradition request from the United States appears to be in limbo, and it is uncertain how the new administration of Enrique Peña Nieto will handle the request.  Since charges are pending in both nations, he could be tried sequentially. Thereby, if convicted in one country, after serving his sentence, being extradited to the other, another trial and another possible prison sentence. 

It was thought his extradition was imminent in fall of 2012, at which time Valdez wrote a rambling letter declaring his detention was the result of "political persecution" by then president Calderon.  Further he claimed that Calderon had called for a meeting with various cartels.

Valdez is being represented by the prominent Houston attorney, Kent Schaffer who has expressed concern for the security of his client,  especially while he is held in Mexico.   He has been held in a one man cell. 

Some information about the interworking’s of the Valdez operation was revealed last week when Juan Montemayor, 47,  pled guilty to U.S. federal charges of cocaine trafficking.  Juan is the brother of Valdez’ father-in-law Carlos.  Juan served as the primary contact person for one of the more significant U.S. customers, Manuel Coronado Espindola, of Atlanta Georgia.

Juan’s plea document traces wiretaps, the operation of Valdez and his transition from a local dealer in Laredo to his move into Mexico where he became a major player in the Mexican drug war.

Juan Montemayor Plea Document