Asia's most-wanted alleged drug kingpin, Tse Chi Lop, has been extradited to Australia, where he faces potential life imprisonment. The 59-year-old is accused of heading a multibillion-dollar drug syndicate spanning several Asia Pacific countries, from Japan to New Zealand.
Australian police released images of armed officers escorting Tse off a plane at Melbourne airport in handcuffs. He is due to appear in a local court on Thursday. Tse, often compared to Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, was arrested at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport in January 2021 following a decade-long manhunt.
He is alleged to be the head of the Sam Gor Syndicate, also known as The Company, which Australian police estimate is responsible for up to 70% of drugs entering Australia. The syndicate smuggled large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, and ketamine into the country, often concealed in packs of tea.
Australia's charges relate to operations between 2012 and 2013, including a A$4.4m (£2.45m) shipment of methamphetamine. A police crackdown at the time uncovered over A$4m in cash, 99 designer handbags, and a yellow Lamborghini at a Melbourne home linked to the trade.
Tse has denied the charges, claiming his arrest was a set-up by Australian authorities. He argued that police illegally arranged his expulsion from Taiwan to Canada via the Netherlands to facilitate his arrest. The operation, codenamed Operation Kungur, involved about 20 agencies across continents, with Australian police leading the effort.
A British-Chinese national, aged 66, will also stand trial alongside Tse as a co-accused. He was extradited from Thailand in June. Tse previously served nine years in a US prison for drug trafficking in the 1990s.
