SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has ordered CNMI Marshals to start issuing jury summons in the drug trafficking case against Yuzhu Zhang.
Zhang, 48, is accused of attempting to smuggle by mail from California 4.9 pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of approximately $700,000.
Zhang was charged with importation of contraband, trafficking and possession of a controlled substance. He has denied the charges.
At a pretrial conference on Feb. 15, Zhang appeared in the custody of the Department of Corrections and was represented by Assistant Public Defender Karie Comstock. Dennis Tse served as his interpreter. Appearing for the government was Assistant Attorney General Steven Kessel.
Judge Camacho scheduled a status conference for Feb. 24, at 10 a.m., and another pretrial conference for March 1 at 10 a.m.
Zhang’s jury trial is set for March 27, at 9 a.m.
Zhang, through Assistant Public Defender Veena Seelam, has asked the court to suppress all evidence and statements obtained as a result of the search of Zhang’s package, his detention, and the search of his vehicle without a warrant or other legal justification on March 19, 2022.
In a recent ruling, Judge Camacho stated that the Customs officers’ warrantless search of Zhang’s vehicle was unlawful.
The judge granted the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the search of the vehicle.
As for the search of the package, the judge said Zhang “did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the package at the time of the search,” and that the Customs officers “complied with their statutory jurisdiction requirements.”
The court denied the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the search of the package.
Judge Camacho has imposed a $1 million cash bail on the defendant.
Through an interpreter, Zhang told police that an “unknown male” offered him $100 to pick up a “large parcel of Chinaware” at a Garapan postal service and bring it to the back of the Mobil gas station on Beach Road.
Zhang also stated that the $4,239 in cash found in his vehicle was his, but not the 19 small clear plastic bags containing methamphetamine that weighed 26.3 grams.
Investigators stated that the cash and meth found in Zhang’s vehicle strongly indicated that he was a drug distributor and trafficker.
