Chinese drug trafficker Zhi Dong Zhang, ‘Brother Wang’ pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn federal court. Zhang ran a vast drug trafficking and money laundering operation that imported thousands of kilos of drugs into the US and other countries. Zhang’s organization operated out of Mexico since at least 2016 and laundered its drug proceeds through shell companies created in the U.S. using false social security numbers and other fraudulent documents. Cops identified more than 100 shell companies tied to Zhang that were used to launder at least $77m from meth and fentanyl.
Zhang arrived in Mexico before the coronavirus pandemic, then married a Mexican and became a Mexican citizen. He was a key and unique player for cartels. Mexican authorities captured Zhang in Mexico City in October 2024 at the request of the U.S., but a judge granted him house arrest and he escaped the home where he was being held under military guard. Zhang snuck through a hole into the property next door and escaped from under the noses of the soldiers guarding him. He was eventually recaptured in Cuba and sent to the U.S. on October 23. Prosecutors describe a cocaine and fentanyl trafficking network with hubs in the Atlanta and Los Angeles. Millions from drug sales were collected at stash houses in Georgia and California and deposited into accounts that Zhang could then access from Mexico.
He is accused of laundering at least $20m in the U.S. between 2020 and 2021 by using more than 100 shell companies and bank accounts. Zhang has multiple other aliases, including ‘BW,’ ‘Pancho,’ ‘HeHe’ and ‘Mr. T.’
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