Alleged meth kingpin, known as 'Asia's El Chapo', extradited to Australia

The alleged kingpin of Asia's biggest crime syndicate, a multibillion dollar methamphetamine empire, has been extradited to Australia following a two-year legal battle with Dutch authorities, police said Thursday. One of the world's most wanted men has been arrested on drug trafficking charges. Australian police has hailed it as "one of the most high-profile arrests in the history" of the country.

Born in China, Canadian Tse Chi Lop, reportedly leads an Asian mega-cartel known as Sam Gor, a major global producer and supplier of methamphetamines.

The 59-year-old was arrested in January 2021 at Amsterdam’s Schipol International Airport soon after arriving from Taiwan after a decade-long hunt. He was then detained by the Dutch authorities on a warrant from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) issued in 2019. He had been the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.

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At a Melbourne Magistrates' Court Thursday, he is expected to answer a charge of "conspiracy to traffic commercial quantities of controlled drugs". Dubbed Asia's "El Chapo" in reference to Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman's nickname, Tse faces life imprisonment if convicted.

The Sam Gor organisation, also known as "The Company", is believed to launder billions in drug money through casinos, hotels and real estate in Southeast Asia's Mekong region.

He supposedly ran his multibillion dollar operation from Hong Kong, Macao and southeast Asia. Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrest came after a "very complex investigation."

"We allege this male is the head of a large transnational organised crime syndicate. By their very nature, these very senior figures within the syndicates obviously deliberately stay hands-off in terms of the business dealings," she said.

"That's why it's such a significant arrest and why it has taken a fair amount of time."

According to the Australian police, the charges relate to a specific 2012-2013 operation transferring drugs from Melbourne to Sydney. A sting operation at the time led to 27 people being held, with 20 kilos of methamphetamine also being recovered. The current value of this amount of methamphetamine stands at around US$3 million.

A second man has also been arrested after being extradited from Thailand.

“The hard work of investigators, and the (Australian Federal Police) international network, has enabled these alleged offenders to be charged and face the justice system in Australia," said Barrett.

Tse wasn't a known figure until a Reuters investigation in 2019 talked about him, dubbing him “Asia’s El Chapo.”

The United Nations' narcotics agency estimated the Sam Gor syndicate's meth revenue in 2018 at $8 billion a year, but said it could be as high as $17.7 billion, with a 40 per centto 70 per centshare of the wholesale regional meth market that has expanded at least fourfold in the past five years.

(With inputs from agencies)

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