Mexico extraditing top drug lord 'La Barbie,' others to US from maximum security jail
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Tuesday Aug. 31, 2010, file photo, Federal Police escort Texas-born fugitive Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "the Barbie," center, during his presentation to the press in Mexico City. An official said on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015, that Mexico is extraditing Valdez Villareal to the United States. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini, File) (The Associated Press)
A Mexican official says drug lord Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," is being extradited to the United States.
The official says he will be sent to the U.S. with other prisoners from Mexico's maximum security facility, Altiplano. He spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
He did not say how many others nor why they are being sent now. Altiplano was the scene of a dramatic escape in July by the world's most powerful drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Valdez was a top lieutenant to Arturo Beltran Leyva until Beltran's death in 2009, then led his own faction of the Beltran Leyva cartel until his arrest in 2010. He faces drug-trafficking charges in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.