Chinese graduate accused of being Mexico’s ‘fentanyl kingpin’

Zhang’s alleged involvement in drug trafficking ended abruptly when he was arrested in Mexico on October 31, 2024.

A judge overturned the controversial decision and ordered him to remain under house arrest, but Zhang managed to sneak out – through a hole in the wall – on a private jet to Cuba and then to Russia.

Russian border officials discovered the forged documents and sent them to Cuba, which returned them to Mexico and then extradited them to the United States.

His arrest made headlines around the world. The alumni network at Beijing’s Peking University, where Zhang studied Spanish, was stunned.

“Everybody was talking about it,” Alex said. “It was a shocking story and probably one of the most famous people Peking University has ever produced.”

In Culiacan, cartel members said Zhang’s absence was immediately felt.

“Finding the originals became very difficult,” says Lewis.

“They took the man and that created chaos,” says Enrique. In China, Zhang said, it was “connected,” and the cartels had to “start from scratch and build a new road.”

At the same time, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began detecting a decline in fentanyl purity, which it said was “consistent with indications that many Mexico-based fentanyl processors are having difficulty obtaining some key precursor chemicals.”

But disruptions to drug supply chains are usually temporary, in what Dittmar describes as a “constant game of cat and mouse.”

Her research has tracked how fentanyl producers adapt by finding substitutes and learning new processes when middlemen are eliminated or key chemicals are controlled.

Individuals in the supply chain can also be replaced — even those with deep and wide connections like Zhang, according to cartel members.

Enrique said there was already one person in the frame – another Chinese, but he couldn’t say more “for my own safety”.

Another cartel member, who said he was a coordinator responsible for moving goods and workers within the cartel, said that although “it all started with him (Brother Wang) … he left a lot of connections to help us continue.”

“If he leaves, someone else will come in … the business will not stop.”

Additional reporting by Ruth Evans and Miguel Angel Vega