A Strange Stop in Havana: Why Was a Chinese Fentanyl Kingpin Hiding in Cuba?

At some point in the last week, you may have seen some basic MSM coverage of Zhi Dong Zhang, aka "Brother Wang." If not, the story is a wild one — far more interesting than anything Hollywood comes up with these days. 

Zhang is a Chinese national who allegedly ran a transnational fentanyl trafficking network with ties to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). According to Mexican Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar García Harfuch, Zhang was arrested in Mexico in October 2024. Harfuch claims he was "making connections with other cartels for the transfer of fentanyl from China to Central America, South America, Europe and the United States."

Initially, he served time in a maximum-security prison, but a judge eventually granted him house arrest in Mexico City with military supervision — something even Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denounced — and on July 11, 2025, just before Mexican authorities planned to extradite him to the U.S. to face charges, he managed to escape via tunnels, El Chapo style. Interpol put out a Red Notice. He reportedly took a private jet to Cuba, attempted to escape to Russia but was denied entry, was arrested by Russian authorities, and returned to Cuba. On July 31, Cuban authorities detained him, and last week, they handed him over to the U.S.

On X, Harfuch thanked Cuban officials for their "valuable cooperation." From what I've read in the light MSM coverage of this, many outlets also seemed to heap praise on Cuba for "doing the right thing." But my question is: Why was this guy able to flee to Cuba in the first place? 

The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba posted a similar question on X: "Mexico and Cuba doing the dance: A Chinese trafficker flees Mexico, shows up in Cuba, then is extradited. The regime gets credit for cooperation — but nobody’s asking how he got there or why Cuba was his refuge." 

Mexico and Cuba doing the dance: A Chinese trafficker flees Mexico, shows up in Cuba, then is extradited. The regime gets credit for cooperation — but nobody’s asking how he got there or why Cuba was his refuge. #Fentanyl #Cuba #Narcohttps://t.co/1HKyUWYk04

— The Foundation For Human Rights in Cuba (@TheFHRC) October 24, 2025

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) doubled down on this, stating, "Nothing, and no one, enters the Cuban regime without it knowing. This drug trafficker didn’t end up there by accident. This once again exposes the Cuban regime's ties to narco and fentanyl networks, which pose serious threats to our region and the United States." 

Nothing, and no one, enters the Cuban regime without it knowing.

This drug trafficker didn’t end up there by accident.

This once again exposes the Cuban regime's ties to narco and fentanyl networks, which pose serious threats to our region and the United States. https://t.co/BfxZTKQLkT

— Mario Díaz-Balart (@MarioDB) October 28, 2025

The other thing that's fishy is why Cuba turned him over to the U.S. in the first place. For decades, the Communist Caribbean nation has been a safe harbor for U.S. fugitives. Look at Joanne Byron, aka "Assata Shakur," who died in Cuba last month after living there since the early 1980s. The regime there was mighty proud of the fact that it took in a woman who'd fled the U.S. after she was convicted of the first-degree murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and escaped from prison. It kept her safe as a "political exile" for the rest of her life. 

There are theories floating around. One being that Cuban-Chinese relations are so strong that Zhang, who is not a total idiot — you don't become a key player in an international drug trafficking and money laundering scheme that crosses multiple continents by being stupid — thought maybe Cuba would keep him safe from U.S. prosecution. He figured Commie bros would stick together, especially when it came to defying the United States, which claims Zhang has direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party.  

But there was no red carpet. When Russia sent him back to Cuba, he and two others were arrested for document forgery and human trafficking, and he sat in prison for the last three months. I would assume that during that time, he provided the regime with information, and when they got all they could out of him, they used him as a diplomatic head pat... or tried. 

The truth is that Cuba is a bigger mess than anyone is reporting right now, even with billions of dollars of Chinese investments. There's a food shortage, a medical crisis, streets filled with garbage, power that goes out constantly, and a lack of clean drinking water. I could go on, and without Venezuela's oil, a supply line that is dwindling and may soon come to an end, it's only going to get worse. The regime blames the U.S. embargo for much of this, but the reality is that corruption and Communism have caused it. 

Mexico gushed over Cuba's cooperation. The Cuban regime knows that ridding the U.S. of fentanyl is a top priority for Donald Trump's administration. Perhaps it thought that handing him over would woo the U.S. government and potentially ease sanctions?

Ultimately, however, we can say this had nothing to do with justice or "cooperation" from the Cuban regime. Whatever the reasoning for this selective extradition — from a country that has held people like Shakur up as trophies and has jailed thousands of Cuban dissidents arbitrarily — don't expect it to become a common practice. If anything, it's a sign of desperation from a regime growing weaker by the day. 

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