Mexican officials reported Wednesday that Texas-born drug lord Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez was extradited by Mexico to the United States.
"La Barbie," who earned his nickname due to his fair complexion, along with 12 other defendants, were wanted for an assortment of violent crimes and drug trafficking-related offenses, the Justice Department said, according to NBC News.
The extradition comes as part of a new coordination effort between Mexico and the U.S. to fight organized crime. The partnership arose from a meeting in June between Mexican Attorney General Arely Gomez and her U.S. counterpart Loretta Lynch, according to Fox's North Carolina affiliate Fox 8.
It also comes on the heels of the July 11 escape of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, from the Mexican maximum security prison Altiplano. The escape came as an embarrassment to Mexican authorities, who initially boasted that it would be impossible for "El Chapo" to escape and he wouldn't be extradited for "300 or 400 years."
Coincidentally, "La Barbie" and the other defendants were being held in Altoplano as well, leading many to believe "El Chapo's" escape and the 13 extraditions are related. Mexican officials, however, declined to comment on the subject, reported 680 News.
"My guess it is that they're probably starting to make amends for El Chapo," said Mexican security expert Alejandro Hope, adding that 13 at one time is not unprecedented. "Maybe they don't feel as safe now about the security in the prison system."
Others extradited include Julio Cesar Valenzuela-Elizalde, known as "The Pilot," and Jorge Costilla-Sanchez, a.k.a. "El Cos," according to CBS News.
"La Barbie" was a top lieutenant to Arturo Beltran Leyva, until Beltran's death in 2009. He soon lead a splinter faction of the Beltran Leyva cartel until his arrest in 2010. He faces drug-trafficking charges in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.
