‘Asia’s El Chapo’ faces extradition after arrest at Amsterdam airport
A MAN accused of being one of the world’s most wanted men and part of Asia’s biggest crime syndicate has been arrested in the Netherlands, with Australian authorities pushing for his extradition to face trial.
Police had been chasing alleged drug kingpin Tse Chi Lop, 57, for years until his arrest by Dutch police on Friday, acting on a request from Australia’s federal police. In a statement yesterday, Australian authorities said a man “of significant interest” to law enforcement agencies had been detained. A police spokesman confirmed his name as Tse Chi Lop.
The Chinese-born Canadian suspect has been dubbed “Asia’s El Chapo” in reference to the nickname of Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman, now serving a life sentence in a US prison.
Mr Tse is expected to be extradited after appearing before a judge, Thomas Aling, a Dutch police spokesman said, adding that his arrest by national police took place without incident at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. “He was already on the most-wanted list and he was detained based on intelligence we received,” Mr Aling said.
Mr Tse has been named by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as the suspected leader of the Asian megacartel known as Sam Gor, a major global producer and supplier of methamphetamines. Sam Gor is accused of launder- ing its billions in drug money through businesses springing up in the Mekong area of south-east Asia – including casinos, hotels and property.
Australia’s federal police said Friday’s arrest followed an operation that in 2012-13 seized 27 people linked to a crime syndicate spanning five countries.
The group were accused of importing “substantial quantities of heroin and methamphetamine” into Australia, a lucrative market for drug traffickers.
“The syndicate targeted Australia over a number of years, importing and distributing large amounts of illicit narcotics, laundering the profits overseas and living off the wealth obtained from crime,” the Australian police said.
As part of the 2012-13 raids across Melbourne, police seized AUS$9 million (£5 million) worth of assets, including cash, designer handbags, casino chips and jewellery.
The arrest of Mr Tse almost a decade after that operation’s launch is a major breakthrough for Australian authorities. The country’s attorney-general will now begin preparing a formal extradition request for the alleged drug lord to face trial.
Most of Asia’s meth comes from “Golden Triangle” border areas between Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and south-west China, which are pumping unprecedented quantities of synthetic drugs into global markets.
A UNODC study says south-east Asia’s drug cartels net more than $60 billion (£44billion) a year. Drug hauls feature almost daily in headlines across the region, with traffickers finding more creative ways to ship out their products.