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'La Barbie' pleads guilty in Atlanta, faces life without parole

FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2010, file photo, Federal Police escort Texas-born fugitive Edgar Valdez Villarreal, center, stands during his presentation to the media in Mexico City. Villareal, known as "La Barbie" because of his light eyes and complexion, appeared before a federal judge Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, in Atlanta. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine and conspiring to launder money. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini, File)

Credit: Alexandre Meneghini

Credit: Alexandre Meneghini

FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2010, file photo, Federal Police escort Texas-born fugitive Edgar Valdez Villarreal, center, stands during his presentation to the media in Mexico City. Villareal, known as "La Barbie" because of his light eyes and complexion, appeared before a federal judge Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, in Atlanta. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine and conspiring to launder money. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini, File)
By
Jan 7, 2016

The American who became a drug lord in Mexico, a murderous, ruthless smuggler known as "La Barbie" because of his light complexion, blondish hair and green eyes, faced an American court in Atlanta on Wednesday.

Edgar Valdez Villareal, born in Texas and nicknamed La Barbie by his high school football coach, used submarines, aircraft and more prosaic means of transportation to smuggle truckload upon truckload of cocaine from Mexico to metro Atlanta until his arrest in 2010. He sent competitors messages with videos of beheadings and armed his men with military hardware: rocket-propelled grenades, high-caliber automatic weapons, night-vision goggles and more.

He became almost a cult figure in Mexico, as many of the top narcos do, and consorted with some of the most powerful and notorious men in the drug trade there.

On Wednesday, La Barbie stood before a federal judge in Atlanta and pleaded guilty to three counts. He will be sentenced later and is facing life in prison without parole.

About the Author

Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.

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