MEXICO: Authorities arrest seven members of notorious cartel led by Edgar Valdes Villarreal, alias 'la Barbie'

Record ID: 304184

  • Title: MEXICO: Authorities arrest seven members of notorious cartel led by Edgar Valdes Villarreal, alias 'la Barbie'
  • Date: 16th June 2010
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JUNE 15, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ARRESTED MEN DISEMBARKING POLICE TRUCK VARIOUS OF EZNEL CORTES JIMENEZ, ALSO KNOWN AS "EL TENIENTE" AND OTHER MEMBERS OF CARTEL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANTI-DRUG POLICE CHIEF RAMON EDUARDO PEQUENO, SAYING: "Yesterday, the federal police arrested Eznel Cortes Jimenez, alias 'El Teniente,' the presumed leader of drug trafficking operations in the southern zone of Mexico City for the criminal organization led by Edgar Valdez Villareal, alias 'La Barbie'. After intelligence gathering by the federal police, Cortes Jimenez, 31 years of age, was located and arrested in Acapulco in the state of Guerrero. He is originally from the federal district (Mexico City), he was once a member of the federal police force, starting in 2001, leaving in 2008." VARIOUS OF ARRESTED MEN (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANTI-DRUG POLICE CHIEF RAMON EDUARDO PEQUENO, SAYING: "He is tied to Gerardo Alvarez Vazquez, alias 'el Indio,' who would provide cocaine in the southern zone of the federal district. Another of Eznel Cortes' functions was to coerce different elements in Acapulco's port in order to obtain privileged information on operations that would be carried out against members of the organization." VARIOUS MORE OF ARRESTED MEN ARRESTED MEN WALKING TOWARDS TRUCK POLICE VEHICLE LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Reuters ID: LVAAKNKOD9O5BUPYP7R28L00LOSS
  • Story Text: Mexican authorities presented on Tuesday (June 15) seven members of a notorious cartel led by Edgar Valdes Villarreal, alias 'la Barbie.' Among the arrested, authorities captured Eznel Cortes Jimenez, also known as 'el Teniente,' whose main responsibility was to distribute cocaine in the southern zone of Mexico City.
    Anti-drug police chief Ramon Eduardo Pequeno told reporters that Jimenez was once one of their own.
    "Yesterday, the federal police arrested Eznel Cortes Jimenez, alias 'El Teniente,' the presumed leader of drug trafficking operations in the southern zone of Mexico City for the criminal organization led by Edgar Valdez Villareal, alias 'La Barbie'. After intelligence gathering by the federal police, Cortes Jimenez, 31 years of age, was located and arrested in Acapulco in the state of Guerrero. He is originally from the federal district (Mexico City), he was once a member of the federal police force, starting in 2001, leaving in 2008."
    Pequeno added that Cortes Jimenez was also responsible for tapping into sources at the Acapulco port in order to get inside information on anti-drug operations targeting his organization.
    "He is tied to Gerardo Alvarez Vazquez, alias 'el Indio,' who would provide cocaine in the southern zone of the federal district. Another of Eznel Cortes' functions was to coerce different elements in Acapulco's port in order to obtain privileged information on operations that would be carried out against members of the organization."
    Authorities also seized six long range rifles and hundreds of ammunition, one kilogram of cocaine, five vehicles as well as communications equipment.
    Cartel violence has killed some 23,000 people since Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched his drug war in December 2006.
    The December killing of drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva, the biggest strike yet in Calderon's war, has sparked fighting around the Mexican capital as factions within the Beltran Leyva cartel push for leadership.
    The battleground includes the marijuana- and opium-producing state of Guerrero and the famous beach resort of Acapulco, a key transit point for South American cocaine.
    In Cuernavaca, the colonial tourist town outside Mexico City where Beltran Leyva was killed by marines, violence has surged in recent weeks with bodies hung from bridges and piled up on the side of roads.
    Traffickers also want control of Mexico City for its big local drug market and the capital's highway links northward to the U.S. border.
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