An infamous Morelos narco ranch will be converted into a school and health center
The ranch became a lottery prize after authorities seized it in 2009, but the winner refused to take it over, instead selling it back to the government for an undisclosed amount, clearing the way for its metamorphosis into a community asset. The post An infamous Morelos narco ranch will be converted into a school and health center appeared first on Mexico News Daily
A former ranch owned by notorious drug lord Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," in central Mexico will be transformed into a high school and health center, according to Morelos Governor Margarita González Saravia. Located in Atlacholoaya, the property, called El Paraíso, is approximately a 35-minute drive south of Cuernavaca, the state capital.
The governor announced the conversion on Tuesday, explaining that the site will house three entities: a technological agricultural high school, a center for traditional medicine, and an office for a state agency promoting Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities. The high school, identified by its Spanish initials CBTA, aims to address the region's need for secondary education and will incorporate traditional medicine and ancestral knowledge from Morelos' Indigenous communities into its curriculum.
Construction and renovation are expected to commence in the coming weeks. Authorities took control of the ranch after the death of Valdez's associate Arturo Beltrán Leyva in a 2009 raid. Valdez, born in Laredo, Texas, in 1973, was extradited to the United States in 2015 and sentenced to 49 years in federal prison for drug trafficking and money laundering.
The ranch was initially seized by the federal agency Indep, which later auctioned it off as part of a 2021 lottery. Despite winning the property, former winner Nereida Morales declined to take possession due to the ranch's condition and the associated maintenance costs. She eventually agreed to sell it to the Morelos government for an undisclosed amount.
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