Xu Zewei extradited to U.S.

Xu Zewei, a 34-year-old Chinese national, was extradited from Italy and appeared in federal court in Houston on a nine-count hacking indictment. (justice.gov) The U.S. Justice Department said Xu was extradited on April 25, 2026, and made his initial appearance in the Southern District of Texas on April 27. He remains in custody, with a detention hearing set for April 30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard W. Bennett. (justice.gov) Prosecutors say Xu and co-defendant Zhang Yu, 44, took part in computer intrusions from February 2020 through June 2021. The indictment says some of those attacks were part of the HAFNIUM campaign that exploited Microsoft Exchange email servers and compromised thousands of computers worldwide. (justice.gov 1) (justice.gov 2) The Justice Department says other intrusions targeted U.S. universities, immunologists and virologists working on COVID-19 vaccines, treatment and testing. One of the named targets was the University of Texas, according to Italian and U.S. authorities. (justice.gov) (ansa.it) U.S. officials tie the alleged operation to China's Ministry of State Security, saying the two men acted as contract hackers rather than uniformed state employees. That structure lets governments use outside technicians while keeping distance from the intrusions. (justice.gov) The case began publicly in July 2025, when Italian police arrested Xu at Milan Malpensa airport after he arrived from China on a U.S. warrant. The indictment had been returned in November 2023 and unsealed after that arrest. (justice.gov) (ansa.it) Xu disputed the case after his arrest in Italy, telling a judge it was a case of mistaken identity and saying others had used his account, ANSA reported in July 2025. The U.S. court record listed by CourtListener shows the criminal case in Houston was filed as United States v. Zewei, No. 4:23-cr-00523. (ansa.it) (courtlistener.com) The extradition puts one of the accused HAFNIUM defendants physically before a U.S. judge after nearly three years of sealed and then unsealed charges. Zhang Yu remains charged in the case, but the Justice Department's April 27 release did not say he is in custody. (justice.gov)