Mexico's newspaper La Crónica says there are ten versions of how the drug trafficker and hitman Edgar Valdez Villareal, alias La Barbie, was captured in late August just outside Mexico City. These versions come from three different officials. They contradict each other in parts and coincide in others. The article adds to the speculation that Valdez is cooperating with authorities and arranged his capture so he could get favorable treatment once in custody. Valdez was a longtime hitman for the Beltrán Leyva Organization (BLO) but defected after his boss, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, was killed in a firefight with authorities in December 2009. His defections split the organization in two and has led to hundreds of deaths from Morelos to Guerrero as the battle to control this organization came to a head.
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