Drug lord "La Barbie" extradited to the U.S.

A Mexican official says drug lord Édgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," is being extradited to the United States.

The official says he will be sent to the U.S. with other prisoners from Mexico's maximum security facility, Altiplano. He spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

He did not say how many others nor why they are being sent now. Altiplano was the scene of a dramatic escape in July by the world's most powerful drug lord, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán.

Valdez was a top lieutenant to Arturo Beltrán Leyva until Beltran's death in 2009, then led his own faction of the Beltrán Leyva cartel until his arrest in 2010. He faces drug-trafficking charges in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.