Category World News

Authorities in the United States claim that a fugitive Chinese national was detained in Cuba after being apprehended in Mexico after being apprehended for large amounts of fentanyl and cocaine.

The alleged trafficker, who had escaped Mexican authorities in July, was detained in Cuba, according to a statement released on Wednesday by Mexico’s Security Cabinet, who did not give his name. The suspect was Zhi Dong Zhang, also known as “Brother Wang,” according to a federal official who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

In 2022, he was charged with money laundering and drug trafficking in Atlanta federal court. At the US government’s request, Mexican authorities arrested him in Mexico City in October 2024. However, he was placed under house arrest and, in July, he escaped the home where he was being held under military guard.

According to another Mexican federal agent who also requested anonymity to discuss the case, Zhang had fled to Cuba and then traveled to Russia where he was imprisoned for illegal entry and later returned to Cuba. Zhang could be deported to Mexico, according to the agent.

On Wednesday, the Cuban government did not respond to the AP’s request for comment on Zhang.

The administration of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was trying to stop draconian tariffs threatened by the Trump administration, which claimed Mexico did not do enough to stop fentanyl smuggling into the US.

According to government documents, Zhang’s network, which imported cocaine and fentanyl into the US and then distributed it through hubs in Atlanta and Los Angeles, is described in the government documents filed in the Atlanta case. According to court documents, Zhang allegedly used coded language to describe the drugs as “coffee” and “food” and vice versa.

According to the documents, millions of dollars allegedly went into accounts that Zhang could access from Mexico after being collected from stash houses in Georgia and California.

Zhang’s capture comes as the Trump administration launches regional counterattacks against what it claims are illegal vessels.

Three people were killed when the US launched a ninth military strike on a vessel allegedly containing illicit drugs across international waters. The boat in question was actually in the Pacific Ocean, which was the second time. Pete Hegseth, defense secretary, confirmed the strike on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump’s growing military campaign against Latin American cartels now has a new front, which raises questions about the legality and limits of his actions.

Trump has called Colombia’s president “thug” who is “making a lot of drugs” while engaging in a new round of verbal sparring, and the country’s leader has threatened legal action against him in US courts.

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters at the White House that he was suspending all military aid to Colombia because of its alleged involvement in the international narcotics trade and that Petro Petro was instructed to “watch it.” This increased tension between Washington and Bogota.

Petro took to social media to declare that he would file legal action for Trump’s defamatory remarks in response to the threat from the US president.

The Louvre’s director, adding that she had submitted a resignation to France’s culture minister after being refused, a “terrible failure” in security at the world-renowned Paris museum led to the weekend’s daylight crown jewel heist.

Laurence des Cars acknowledged that staff “did not detect the arrival of the thieves soon enough” when explaining to the French Senate on Wednesday how thieves stole a whopping 88 million euros ($102m) in jewels.

She told the senators, “We are experiencing a terrible failure at the Louvre, and I have a lot of responsibility to take care of it,” she continued, adding that she had written her resignation to Culture Minister Rachida Dati. Dati, she continued, turned down the resignation offer.

Des Cars claimed that the museum’s “strains” were caused by the heist on Sunday and that other “flaws” existed as well.

She claimed that while the Louvre’s alarm systems were operational during the heist, some of the museum’s cameras are “aging,” while the one closest to the thieves’ entry point was “directed westward” and thus did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in.

Des Cars also suggested that barriers be put in place to stop cars from parking directly next to the buildings, as well as a police station inside the museum.

The Louvre reopened on Wednesday, welcoming 30, 000 visitors every day, with visitors lining up in line for the largest and most popular museum in the world for the first time since the audacious daytime heist, which shocked the entire world.

Four men climbed through a window in the Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo’s Gallery) shortly after the museum’s opening at 9 a.m. on Sunday to enter through a truck with an extendable ladder to a balcony window.

According to Des Cars, the thieves placed bollards on the street to resemble they were doing maintenance work.

The thieves robbed eight pieces of art from the Napoleonic era before spending less than four minutes inside the Louvre. They escaped through Paris’s heartland on motorcycles. The thieves are still at large and the jewels are still missing three days later.

Napoleon Bonaparte gave his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise, an emerald-and-diamond necklace as part of the haul. A diadem, which was once owned by Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, was also taken, which is dotted with nearly 2, 000 diamonds.

As they fled, the thieves also dropped Eugenie’s imperial crown, which was adorned with more than 1,300 diamonds. Later, it was discovered unharmed but still recoverable outside the museum.

The heist was referred to as an “attack on a heritage that we cherish,” according to French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Louvre will not be held responsible for the theft of any of the items because none of them were privately insured. The cost of securing these priceless works would be in the billions each year.

Staff at the Louvre have repeatedly raised concerns about understaffing and overcrowding, leading to a staff walkout in June in protest.