An infamous Morelos narco ranch will be converted into a school and health center

A ranch in central Mexico formerly owned by convicted drug kingpin Edgar Valdez Villarreal — aka “La Barbie” — will be converted into a high school and health complex, Morelos Gov. Margarita González Saravia said Tuesday. The property, known as El Paraíso, is in Atlacholoaya, roughly a 35-minute drive south of Cuernavaca, the Morelos state capital. Morelos Governor Margarita González Saravia announced Tuesday that the former ranch El Paraíso of convicted narco La Barbie in the municipio of Atlacholoaya will soon be converted into a high school and health center. (Gobierno Morelos / Facebook) will house three entities: a technological agricultural high school; a center for traditional medicine; and an office of a 2-year-old state agency that promotes and supports Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities. The school, known by its Spanish initials CBTA, is intended to address a longstanding demand for secondary education infrastructure in the area. Its curriculum will be tied to traditional medicine and ancestral knowledge held by Morelos’ Indigenous communities. Construction and renovation work is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Authorities seized the property after Valdez’s former associate Arturo Beltrán Leyva was killed by Mexican Navy personnel in a 2009 raid of a Cuernavaca apartment complex. The leader of the Beltrán Leyva organization at the time, Beltrán and his brothers had been senior figures in the Sinaloa Cartel before breaking away. The ranch was later transferred to Indep, the federal agency that administers and disposes of assets seized by the government. The National Lottery offered El Paraíso as one of 22 prizes in a 2021 raffle that also included drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s former safe house, homes, land and a luxury box at Estadio Azteca. The money raised was to support federal social programs, such as assistance for Olympic and Paralympic athletes. More than 773,000 tickets sold nationwide for 250 pesos each (about US $12.60 at that time), and a woman from Jojutla in southern Morelos won the ranch. However, Nereida Morales declined to take possession, citing the ranch’s deterioration and the maintenance costs. She later agreed to sell the property to the Morelos government for an undisclosed price. The property was valued at 61.43 million pesos (US $3.1 million) for the lottery drawing. Valdez, 53, was born in Laredo, Texas, in 1973. Nicknamed “La Barbie” for his blond hair and blue eyes, he was arrested in Mexico in 2010 and extradited to the United States in 2015. He pleaded guilty to four drug-trafficking counts and one money-laundering count and in 2018 was sentenced to 49 years and one month in federal prison. Court records later showed that Valdez had provided information to U.S. authorities while he was still a trafficker, including allegations that officials in former President Felipe Calderón’s administration had aided drug cartels. In 2022, the Bureau of Prisons said Valdez was no longer in its custody but declined to disclose his location. That prompted speculation he was cooperating with U.S. authorities, but officials never confirmed that. A 2025 Justice Department release continued to list his 49-year sentence. With reports from Animal Político and Diario de Morelos