SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho on Wednesday found probable cause to charge Yuzhu Zhang, 48, with importation of contraband, trafficking and possession of a controlled substance.
Judge Camacho then remanded Zhang to the custody of the Department of Corrections, and ordered him to return to court for an arraignment on April 4, 2022 at 9 a.m.
The judge previously imposed a $1 million cash bail on the defendant.
At the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the Office of the Attorney General called CNMI Customs-Drug Enforcement Task Force Officer Mcknox Mabel to testify.
Zhang is accused of attempting to smuggle from California, through mail, 4.9 pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of approximately $700,000.
Mabel told the court that other drugs and money were also found in Zhang’s vehicle.
Mabel said Zhang, through an interpreter, told investigators that an unknown male offered him $100 to pick up a large parcel of Chinaware at a Garapan postal service and to bring it to the back of a Mobil gas station on Beach Road.
Zhang also stated that the $4,239 in cash found inside his vehicle was his but not the 19 small clear plastic bags that contained methamphetamine weighing 26.3 grams.
Mabel said the cash and meth found in Zhang’s vehicle were strong indications that he was a drug distributor and trafficker.
But Mabel also told the court that he does not know if the defendant was the one who placed the order for the parcel.
Zhang, represented by Assistant Public Defender Vina Seelam, said the prosecution has not established probable cause to charge her client.
Assistant Attorney General Steven Kessel disagreed, saying that there was enough evidence to charge Zhang.
Yuzhu Zhang, 48, has been charged with importation of contraband, trafficking and possession of a controlled substance.
