A man accused of running an operation that brought truckloads of cocaine to Atlanta and sent millions in cash back to a Mexican cartel is expected to change his plea to guilty Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Edgar Valdez-Villarreal, dubbed "La Barbie" for his resemblance to a Ken doll, will enter the plea in Atlanta, where he has been held since his extradition in September. Valdez-Villarreal, 43, was one of two suspects arrested in Mexico in 2010 and indicted the same year in the Northern District of Georgia.
In August 2010, Valdez-Villarreal was arrested in a residential area outside Mexico City, U.S. and Mexican authorities said. Calling Valdez-Villarreal one of the most-wanted criminals in Mexico and abroad, then-Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced the arrest of "La Barbie" on his Twitter account.
For years, Valdez-Villarreal allegedly used Atlanta as a major distribution hub to flood the eastern United States with thousands of kilograms of cocaine, according to a federal indictment. In Mexico, he has been blamed for bloody drug and gang turf wars in which rivals were beheaded and hung from bridges.
Valdez-Villarreal is expected to be in federal court at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
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