Australia: The head of Asia’s drug trafficking syndicate Mr. Tse Chi Lop has been extradited to Australia, where he faces charges and life imprisonment.
According to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), “Asia’s El Chapo” is in custody after he was extradited from the Netherlands.
The AFP declared that the arrest is a part of a long-running investigation into an organised crime syndicate known as “Sam Gor” or “The Company” that has trafficked methamphetamine worth millions of dollars into the country.
We allege the individuals charged by the AFP today and in June this year conspired to traffic commercial quantities of methamphetamine within Australia.
AFP assistant commissioner Ms. Krissy Barrett stated.
The assistant commissioner added that “the AFP will make Australia a hostile environment for all trans-national serious organized crime syndicates that target our communities.”
Mr. Tse Chi Lop is accused of leading a multibillion-dollar drug operation across several countries in the Asia Pacific, from Japan to New Zealand.
AFP estimated that The Company is responsible for up to 70 percent of the drugs coming into Australia alone, including huge quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, and ketamine, which are brought into the country in packs of tea.
The Australian police had been hunting for Mr. Tse for more than a decade. Operation Kungur, the previous effort to apprehend the drug lord, involved approximately 20 agencies from various continents led by Australian police.
The United Nations’ narcotics agency previously estimated that the Sam Gor syndicate’s meth revenue in 2018 would be $8 billion a year.