A Chinese drug lord was busted. The cartels' main supplier detained in Cuba

Chinese drug lord Zhi Dong Zhang, one of the main suppliers of fentanyl to Mexican drug cartels, was arrested in Cuba, AFP reported on Wednesday. Zhi was also wanted by the United States.

In the drug trafficking community, the Chinese was known as “Brother Wang”. In July this year he escaped from Mexico and will remain in Cuban custody until a decision is made on possible extradition. In the US, he is wanted on an arrest warrant for money laundering issued by a federal court in Atlanta.

Zhi Dong Zhang is accused of supplying drugs to the Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartels, which Washington considers the main perpetrators of distributing fentanyl in the US. The White House in February this year recognized these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

According to US authorities, the Chinese is a “serious international money launderer” who is responsible for teaming up with other cartels to transfer fentanyl from China to Central America, Europe and the US.

Zhi was arrested in Mexico in October 2024, from where he was to be extradited to the US. His stay in prison was changed to house arrest, from which he escaped in July this year. (PAP)

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