The Chinese graduate accused of becoming Mexico’s ‘fentanyl king’
Zhang’s alleged involvement in the drug trade came to an abrupt end with his arrest in Mexico on October 31, 2024.
A judge made the controversial decision to place him under house arrest, but Zhang managed to escape, reportedly through a hole in the wall, and escape by private jet to Cuba and then Russia.
Russian border officials detected his forged documents and he was sent back to Cuba, which then sent him back to Mexico, from where he was extradited to the United States.
His arrest made headlines around the world. The alumni network of Beijing Peking University, where Zhang studied Spanish, was stunned.
“Everyone was talking about it,” says Alex. “It was a very shocking story, and he was probably one of the most famous people ever produced by Peking University.”
In Culiacán, cartel members say Zhang’s absence was felt immediately.
Luis says it’s “becoming really difficult to recruit pioneers.”
“They took the guy and it caused chaos,” says Enrique. He said Zhang was “someone with connections” in China and that the cartels needed to “start from scratch and build a new route.”
Around the same time, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration began detecting a decline in fentanyl purity, which it said was “consistent with indications that many Mexico-based fentanyl cooks are having difficulty obtaining some key precursor chemicals.”
But disruption to pharmaceutical supply chains is often temporary, in what Dittmar describes as “a constant game of cat and mouse.”
His research tracked how fentanyl producers adapted by finding substitutes and learning new processes when middlemen were removed or key chemicals were brought under control.
Individuals in the supply chain are also replaceable; even those as deeply and widely connected as Zhang allegedly was, according to cartel members.
Enrique says there is already another Chinese man in the frame, but says he can’t say more “for my own safety.”
Another cartel member, who describes himself as a coordinator responsible for the transportation of goods and personnel within the cartel, says, “All this started because of him.” [Brother Wang]…he left many connections to help us continue”.
“If he leaves, someone else will step in… the work will not stop.”
Additional Reporting by Ruth Evans and Miguel Angel Vega
