Mexican drug lord La Barbie is missing from Florida prison

A notorious Mexican drug dealer known as La Barbie is missing from the Florida maximum security prison where he was due to be serving 49 years.

Edgar Valdez Villarreal, 49, is no longer in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons - the federal corrections system.  It is unclear if he might have been transferred out of custody because he is now a witness for the US government. 

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is urging the Biden administration to explain why he is no longer listed as being in custody. 

Edgar Valdez Villarreal, 49, is no longer in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons - the federal corrections system. He is shown in 2010  shortly before being extradited 

He had been at USP Coleman II, a maximum security prison near Orlando

'The United States government has to clear it up as soon as possible. 

'We're going to continue asking them,' he said last night. 

A Bureau of Prisons spokesman said there were 'a number' of reasons why he may no longer show up in databases. 

'There are a number of reasons why an inmate may be listed as ‘not in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. 

'Inmates who were previously in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons and who have not served their sentence may be out of custody for a period of time to attend court hearings, receive medical treatment or for other reasons. 

'We do not provide specific information about the status of prisoners who are not in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons for security or privacy reasons.' 

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is urging the Biden administration to explain why he is no longer listed as being in custody

El Pais reports that the neither Mexican Attorney General’s Office nor the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs knows where he is. 

Villareal was extradited to the US from Mexico in 2010. 

He is Texan born but spent most of his life south of the border, where he was given the nickname Barbie because of his fair complexion. 

Villareal was among a number of Mexican drug dealers who were extradited in 2010. 

He is believed to have been part of the Sinaloa Cartel run by El Chapo - who famously escaped from Mexican prison twice - and ran cocaine to Memphis and New Orleans. 

The Department of Justice has not yet confirmed his whereabouts.