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The Chinese Fentanyl King

How did a graduate from China’s top university become an alleged drug kingpin in Mexico?

Zhang Zhidong was, by every account, brilliant. He graduated from China's most elite university and spoke fluent Spanish. He arrived in Mexico in his mid-twenties to work in mining, and quickly learnt to establish relationships with the whoever the top dog was — whether from the local government, or the underworld.

He’s accused of building a criminal empire that made him a critical link between Chinese chemical factories and the cartels flooding the United States with fentanyl. Cartel members in Mexico called him “El Rey”, the king of fentanyl, or “numero uno”, or his alias “Brother Wang”. He is now imprisoned in the US facing drug trafficking charges.

ĢƵ investigates his rise and fall — speaking to a former friend who worked with him in Mexico , to drug cartel members who say they witnessed his influence first-hand, and to the researchers who have spent years untangling the network he allegedly ran.

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Sun 19 Jul 2026 22:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 16 Jul 2026 01:32GMT
  • Thu 16 Jul 2026 08:32GMT
  • Thu 16 Jul 2026 19:06GMT
  • Sat 18 Jul 2026 23:32GMT
  • Sun 19 Jul 2026 04:32GMT
  • Sun 19 Jul 2026 13:06GMT
  • Sun 19 Jul 2026 22:32GMT