Mexico hands over Chinese fentanyl kingpin Zhi Dong Zhang to the US
Accused of trafficking the drug for Mexican cartels and laundering millions of dollars, he had fled to Cuba after escaping from Mexico City last summer while on house arrest
Zhi Dong Zhang, also known as Brother Wang, was handed over to U.S. authorities on Thursday. The Chinese fentanyl and cocaine kingpin was arrested last year in Mexico City, but managed to escape this summer after a judge’s controversial decision to grant him house arrest. He arrived in Cuba with a false passport after being denied entry to Russia for the same reason. Cuban authorities notified their Mexican counterparts this week that he had been arrested along with two other individuals, one Mexican and the other Chinese.
Zhi Dong is accused of money laundering and drug trafficking through a criminal organization with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Mexico. The Mexican chapter of Brother Wang’s story came to a close on Thursday afternoon, when Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch confirmed his extradition to the United States, where he will face justice. He was a priority target for Washington in its crusade against fentanyl.
Harfuch announced the transfer in a message posted on social media. After reviewing the details of the initial arrest and subsequent escape to Havana, the Secretary of Security confirmed that “on July 31, he was arrested in Cuba along with two other individuals, and today he was handed over to the U.S. authorities.” The Chinese drug lord had an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol. The great strategist of security policy thanked the Cuban government for its “valuable collaboration” in the recapture and extradition of Zhi Dong.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been pursuing Zhi Dong for some time, accusing him of leading a criminal network working for both major Mexican cartels since at least 2016. Zhi Dong’s organization is based in Los Angeles, California, and Atlanta, Georgia, but has ties to Central and South America, Europe, and Asia. His escape from Mexico City, confirmed on July 11, generated significant controversy. He was being held in a maximum-security prison until a judge granted him house arrest, from which he escaped despite being in military custody.
The judge’s decision was even criticized by President Claudia Sheinbaum. While negotiating a security agreement with the United States, which considers fentanyl its public enemy number one, the Mexican president attacked the judicial decision to grant Zhi Dong house arrest. “That ruling should never have come from a judge. How is that possible?” she asked, arguing that her government has been insisting about “the corruption of the judiciary.”
The Chinese drug lord’s escape also occurred at a particularly sensitive time. Six days earlier, a federal court in Georgia had issued new charges against Zhi Dong. Specifically, he is accused of laundering at least $20 million in the United States between 2020 and 2021 alone through a complex network of more than 150 shell companies and 170 bank accounts.
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