yī míng一名běi dà北大bì yè shēng毕业生wèi hé为何chéng wéi成为kuà guó跨国dú pǐn毒品àn案de的zhòng yào重要rén wù人物？
A U.S. court is handling a transnational drug case.
Zhang Zhidong, a Chinese citizen, graduated from Peking University, speaks Spanish, and previously worked in Mexico.
U.S. prosecutors accuse him of helping a Mexican criminal organization purchase chemicals from China needed to manufacture fentanyl since 2016, and of transferring drug proceeds through shell companies and bank accounts.
Prosecutors say the network involved China, Mexico, and the United States, and that the amount of money laundered was at least 77 million U.S. dollars.
Zhang Zhidong was arrested in Mexico in 2024. After escaping, he was captured again and later sent to the United States.
He says he is not guilty, and the court has not yet made a final decision.
Experts say intermediaries like him understand languages, business, and international shipping. They can connect chemical suppliers, secret laboratories, and money-laundering networks, making them important and difficult to replace.
However, criminal networks often have multiple intermediaries, so capturing one person can bring only a short-term impact.
To solve the problem in the long term, countries still need to work together to examine suspicious orders, funds, and companies.