A Chinese citizen accused of trafficking fentanyl has been extradited from Cuba to the United States, according to the Mexican government, which helped facilitate the transfer.
Zhi Dong Zhang, known as "Brother Wang," escaped house arrest in Mexico in July, and has now been transferred into U.S. custody, according to Mexican Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch.
Zhi is accused of being "responsible for international drug trafficking, money laundering, and alliances with criminal groups with a presence in the Americas, Europe, and Asia," Harfuch said, according to BBC Mundo.
He is alleged to have worked closely with Mexico's Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation drug cartels, designated "foreign terrorist organizations" by Washington.
The Cuban government said that "after a formal request for extradition," the alleged trafficker was handed over to Mexican authorities.
Neither Mexico nor Havana has specified whether Zhang was transferred to the United States via Mexican soil, or if he was transported directly from Cuba.
Resultado de labores de investigación, cooperación internacional y coordinación, el 30 de octubre de 2024 autoridades mexicanas del @GabSeguridadMX detuvieron en la Ciudad de México a Zhi Dong “N”, identificado como responsable del tráfico internacional de droga, lavado de dinero… pic.twitter.com/0J3ieN3uE3
— Omar H Garcia Harfuch (@OHarfuch) October 24, 2025A wanted poster released by Mexican prosecutors in July said that in addition to "Brother Wang," Zhi has multiple other aliases, including "BW," "Pancho," "HeHe" and "Mr. T."
Zhi is considered "a major international money laundering operator," Garcia said last year. He is accused of laundering at least $20 million in the U.S. between 2020 and 2021 by using more than 100 shell companies and bank accounts, El Pais reported.
The alleged trafficker was responsible for "establishing connections with other cartels for the transfer of fentanyl from China to Central America, South America, Europe, and the United States," he added.
His arrest in Cuba was initially confirmed Wednesday by Mexico's security secretariat.
Since President Trump returned to the White House in January, Washington has been applying pressure on Mexico and China to curb drug trafficking, particularly of fentanyl. The Trump administration has hit both countries with steep tariffs.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin and much easier and cheaper to produce.
It has largely replaced heroin and prescription opioids such as oxycodone as a cause of overdoses in the United States.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's government has ramped up drug seizures under tariff pressure from Mr. Trump, who has threatened further punitive measures unless the problem is solved.
Although Mexico has been the main source of fentanyl sold in the United States, Washington has increasingly focused its attention on China-based suppliers of precursor ingredients.
The extradition comes as the U.S. continues military strikes against alleged drug traffic boats off South America, including one reported on Friday that killed six people on a vessel in the Caribbean.
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