THE BORDER REPORT

Just got an interesting note from a Sinaloan I've come to trust in these matters. Rumor is that Barbie, Edgar Valdez Villarreal, has switched sides and is now working alongside the Zeta leaders, Miguel Trevino and the notorious Heriberto Lazcano, el Z-1. Barbie is the famed assassin for the Sinaloans, and alongside the Beltran Leyva brothers (before the treacheries began this year) Joaquin Shorty Guzman's most trusted man. The Texan, named for his rugged blonde good looks, is wanted in the U.S. on 2003 drug trafficking charges out of Louisiana. By 2006, he'd freaked everybody out, carrying the fight against the Zetas down to Acapulco. A year ago, he was taking the fight against the Gulf Cartel to national television, using the media to attack the Zetas as effectively as his firepower. It was Barbie Valdez, along with Arturo Beltran, who helped Guzman gain his power back after the infamous 2001 escape, popularized in the corrido, El Regreso Del Chapo. At a meeting in Guatemala last month, it is said, Barbie Valdez shifted again, now aligning himself with Trevino and the Lazcano brothers, the top men of the Zetas. If this and last week's news holds true, it means Shorty Guzman has lost two of his most important men, Barbie Valdez and Arturo Beltran. Whether he betrayed them or they him, still remains to be seen. Word of caution, mi estimado lector: Some sources at Justice Department aren't yet convinced Arturo Beltran's shifted sides. They don't feel he has anything to gain by aligning himself with the Gulf Cartel. These Sinaloans. Following their saga is better than March Madness. We'll see what happens next.

 

-- Michel Marizco