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Most-wanted US fentanyl kingpin arrested in Cuba

Zhi Dong Zhang, alias Brother Wang, was one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers. His arrest in Havana opens a new front in Washington's anti-drug war in the Caribbean.

Zhi Dong Zhang's mugshot

Zhi Dong Zhang's mugshotGovernment of Mexico

Diane Hernández
Published by
Diane Hernández

Zhi Dong Zhang, known as Brother Wang and considered one of the biggest drug trafficking kingpins of fentanyl worldwide, was arrested in Cuba, the Spanish newspaper El País revealed Tuesday. Mexican official sources confirmed to the media that they are holding negotiations with Havana for his immediate handover, although the Cuban regime has not yet made a statement on the case.

Zhi Dong, 38, is a priority target of Washington, which expects his extradition as a matter of urgency once he is delivered by Cuba to Mexico after the conclusion of the interrogations. The drug trafficker managed to escape in July from a Mexican prison, from where he was about to be sent to U.S. territory.

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An escape that shook Mexico

The story of the Chinese drug lord began a year ago, when he was arrested in Mexico City on charges of narco-trafficking and money laundering.

TheDEA points to him as the leader of an international network that operated for nearly a decade in the service of the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación. Its structure maintained bases in Los Angeles and Atlanta, with connections in Central and South America, Europe and Asia.

Zhi was placed in a maximum security prison, but a judge granted him house arrest under military custody, a decision that provoked harsh criticism. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum labelled the ruling as "nonsense," recalling that the prosecution had strongly opposed it.

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The same judge had earlier benefited former prosecutor Jesús Murillo Karam, accused in the Ayotzinapa case, which generated even more controversy.

The fallout came in July, when Zhi Dong escaped custody and fled Mexico. The escape occurred just six days after a Georgia federal court expanded the charges against him for money laundering, estimated at more than $20 million between 2020 and 2021.

A global laundering and trafficking network

The DEA investigation revealed a complex financial scheme consisting of 150 shell companies and 170 bank accounts.

Money movements were made in sums of less than $100.000 dollars through large US banks - among them Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo - to avoid alerts.

The case was expanded after the arrest of Ruipeng Li, Zhi Dong's partner, who handed over documentation that made it possible to dismantle part of the network. In the intercepted communications, "coffee" meant fentanyl and "food" was the code for cocaine.

According to the DEA, the organization moved more than 1,000 kilos of cocaine and almost 2,000 kilos of fentanyl to the US.

From Russia to Havana: a failed escape attempt

After escaping from Mexico, Zhi Dong tried to enter Russia with a false passport, but was rejected. He subsequently arrived in Cuba under another identity, where he was arrested. In addition to the alias Brother Wang, the trafficker had others such as El Chino, Tocayo, Pancho and Nelson Mandela.

Paradoxically, the Caribbean island—which on other occasions has served as a refuge for fugitives wanted by Washington—could now be key to the capture of one of the world's biggest fentanyl traffickers.

The kingpin's arrest comes amid the military deployment ordered by Donald Trump's administration in the Caribbean, as part of its offensive against drug cartels.

The operation has also increased tensions with the Cuban and Venezuelan regimes, and analysts warn that Havana could seek diplomatic benefits before extraditing the Chinese drug lord.

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