Drug wars: Mexico nets drug lord 'La Barbie'

Mexico City: Mexican federal police confirmed on Monday the capture of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "La Barbie," a Texas-born alleged drug kingpin, who has been blamed for a vicious turf war in Mexico that has set new standards in gory gang-land style killings.

President Felipe Calderon rushed to tweet the announcement, calling Valdez "one of the most-wanted criminals in Mexico and abroad." He also promised that operations in the country to control drug traffickers would continue.

Calderon launched a crackdown on cartels controlling drug trade in the country soon after coming to office in December 2006.

Data from the US State Department suggests that Mexico's drug cartels generate upwards of an estimated $30 billion a year selling marijuana, cocaine and heroin to users in the United States. The crackdown, which now involves the Mexican armed forces acting in support of federal police, has resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000 people - mostly those involved in the drug trade or officials fighting against them. The casualties among innocents, bystanders and the like are huge as well.

But it has also knocked out several major traffickers.

The announcement of Valdez's capture came within hours of the government announcing the fact that it had dismissed nearly 10 per cent of the federal police force this year as part of its campaign to root out corruption. The cartels have survived the nation-wide crackdown primarily through their ability to bribe their way through the top-most levels of the governments executive, judiciary and police and infiltrating the lower ranks with impunity.