Mexican cartel drug trafficker sentenced in Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) The head of the U.S. arm of the cocaine transportation and distribution network of Edgar Valdez-Villareal, also known as La Barbie, has been sentenced to federal prison for trafficking cocaine and money laundering.

In a news release Thursday, U.S. Attorney Byung J. ``BJay'' Pak said U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May sentenced Carlos Montemayor, of Tamaulipas, Mexico, to 34 years and three months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Pak says Montemayor in 1992 established a successful trucking and logistics company in Laredo, Texas, that specialized in moving goods from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, into the United States. He partnered with Valdez-Villareal in 2002 and soon, his company began moving up to 300 kilograms of cocaine a week to stash houses in Atlanta; Memphis, Tennessee, and other U.S. cities.