Alleged trafficker, Zhi Dong Zhang, who had escaped Mexican authorities in July, was arrested in Cuba,
A fugitive Chinese nationwide, whom authorities within the United States accuse of trafficking giant portions of fentanyl and cocaine into the nation earlier than being arrested after which escaping custody in Mexico, has been recaptured in Cuba, based on Mexican officers.
On Wednesday, Mexico’s Security Cabinet mentioned in a press release that the alleged trafficker, who had escaped Mexican authorities in July, was arrested in Cuba, however didn’t determine him by title. A federal official, who requested anonymity as a result of they weren’t authorised to debate the case, confirmed to The Associated Press information company that the suspect was Zhi Dong Zhang, often known as “Brother Wang”.
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He was indicted in federal courtroom in Atlanta in 2022 on drug trafficking and cash laundering costs. Mexican authorities captured him in Mexico City in October 2024 on the request of the US authorities. But a decide granted him home arrest, and final July, he escaped the house he was being held in below army guard.
After escaping in Mexico, Zhang had travelled to Cuba after which to Russia, the place he was detained for unlawful entry and returned to Cuba, based on one other Mexican federal agent, who additionally requested anonymity to debate the case. The agent mentioned Zhang may very well be deported to Mexico.
Cuban authorities didn’t reply to a request from the AP for remark about Zhang on Wednesday.
Zhang’s escape in July got here at a delicate second for the administration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who was attempting to carry off crushing tariffs threatened by the Trump administration, which accused Mexico of not doing sufficient to cease fentanyl smuggling into the US.
Government paperwork filed within the Atlanta case describe a drug trafficking community led by Zhang that imported cocaine and fentanyl into the US after which distributed it by way of hubs within the Atlanta and Los Angeles areas. Zhang reportedly known as the medicine “espresso” and “meals”, respectively, in coded language, the courtroom paperwork mentioned.
Millions of {dollars} from the drug gross sales had been allegedly collected at stash homes in Georgia and California and deposited into accounts that Zhang might entry from Mexico, the paperwork mentioned.
Zhang’s recapture comes because the Trump administration escalates its regional assaults on what it says are vessels smuggling medicine.
The US carried out a ninth army strike on a vessel allegedly carrying illicit medicine throughout worldwide waters, killing three individuals. For the second time, the boat in query was not within the Caribbean Sea however as a substitute within the Pacific Ocean. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike on Wednesday.
The newest strike opens a brand new entrance in President Donald Trump’s rising army marketing campaign in opposition to Latin American cartels, elevating questions concerning the limits and legality of his actions.
In the meantime, partaking in a brand new spherical of verbal sparring, Trump has known as Colombian President Gustavo Petro a “thug” who’s “making plenty of medicine”, and the chief of the South American nation has threatened authorized motion in opposition to Trump in US courts.
Weeks of escalating rigidity between Washington and Bogota hit a brand new stage on Wednesday when Trump advised reporters on the White House he was suspending all army assist to Colombia because of its alleged position within the worldwide narcotics commerce and warned Petro to “watch it”.
Responding to the US president’s risk, Petro took to social media to announce he would take authorized motion in opposition to Trump’s slanderous remarks.
“From the slanders which have been forged in opposition to me within the territory of the United States by high-ranking officers, I’ll defend myself judicially with American legal professionals within the American justice system,” Petro wrote on X.
