Texas-born drug lord ‘the Barbie’ captured by police

MEXICO CITY – Federal police on Monday captured a long-sought, Texas-born alleged gang kingpin who faces drug trafficking charges in the U.S. and has been blamed for a vicious turf war that has included bodies hung from bridges and shootouts in central Mexico.

The arrest of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias “the Barbie,” was the culmination of a yearlong operation, the Public Safety Department said in a statement.

The department said Valdez was captured in the state of Mexico, which borders the capital of Mexico City. The statement offered no other details, but included a photograph of Valdez as he kneels on the ground, a police officer’s hand on his shoulder.

Valdez – the third major drug lord brought down by Mexico’s security forces in less than a year – was charged in May in U.S. District Court in Atlanta with distributing thousands of pounds of cocaine from Mexico to the Eastern U.S. from 2004 to 2006.

U.S. authorities had offered a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to his capture, and the Mexican government offered a similar amount.

Mexican authorities say Valdez has been battling for control of the Beltran Leyva cartel since its leader, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in December .

Valdez, 37, was born in Laredo, Texas.

Also on Monday, Mexico’s government announced that it has fired nearly 10 percent of its federal police force this year for failing checks designed to detect possible corruption. The approximately 35,000 police are required to undergo periodic lie detector, psychological and drug examinations, and the government routinely investigates their finances and personal life.