He fled Mexico through a hole and will be deported to the United States

The movie escape of “Brother Wang”, one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world, has had an abrupt end in Cuba. A statement from the country’s Government, published on social networks by the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of Mexico, Omar G Harfuch, reported that Zhi Dong Zhang, a Chinese national, had been handed over to the authorities.

Zhang, also known as HeHe or Pancho, now He will be extradited to the United States to be tried under its judicial regime.

He is accused of several drug trafficking and money laundering crimes in countries such as China, Mexico and the United States, although Its framework of action was much broader. Some even dare to call him the “king of fentanyl” due to the alleged international distribution network of this drug of which he was the leader.

Furthermore, it is considered a possible link between Mexican cartels and Chinese chemical companies in the supply of the chemical precursors necessary for the manufacture of this powerful opiate.

“Brother Wang” already He was arrested in Mexico in October 2024where he managed to avoid jail after being held in a maximum security prison. He was finally sentenced to house arrest in Mexico City.

This was not enough for him, as he tried to escape, successfully, from his own house by an underground hole that communicated directly with the neighboring property. In this way he managed to evade the security that was at the door of the home day and night.

Once on the street, it was clear to him that he could not stay on Mexican soil for long, so the next step in his great escape was to take a private jet to Cuba.

That was not his last stop, His intention was to reach Russiabut his journey was cut short. The border agents kept him detained and, unaware that he was one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world, They ended up returning him to Cuba.

After losing sight of their prisoner, Mexican authorities were about to suffer one of the biggest defeats in their history with the escape of the great Chinese fentanyl kingpin.

When he set foot in Havana again, the Cuban security services already knew his true identity. Contact with the Mexican authorities was not immediate, but they kept “Brother Wang” in the Caribbean country for several months.

After arduous interrogations, they finally decided to hand him over to the country where he was serving his sentence, which did the same by sending him to the United States, where he will face court again.

With North American justice involved, he will be able to face a sentence comparable to that of other major drug lords, such as Chapo Guzmán.

Zhang’s reach

It is estimated that Zhang could be involved in operations of money laundering that reaches figures exceeding 20 million dollars. For this he used more than 100 front companies located in different nations.

Functioning as a link between all parts of the fentanyl process, its main task was to ensure that the compounds from the Chinese laboratories reached Mexico, and then introduce the product into the US borders.

He began his work in the industry in 2018but it was not until 2022 when the real impact of their actions could be measured. Fentanyl overdoses in the United States increased by 168% between 2018 and 2022, according to data collected by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

At first, it operated only in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Georgia, but little by little it increased its distribution focus until it reached North Carolina, Illinois, New York, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio and Texas.