The hunt for Asia's El Chapo

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RikuPontinen888
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Re: The hunt for Asia's El Chapo

Post by RikuPontinen888 »

“Chinatown's 'White Devil John' Sentenced To 20 Years“

https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origi ... -in-boston

Offtopic but worthy read. Not as epic as Tse Chi, but plenty street level action.
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Re: The hunt for Asia's El Chapo

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

An excellent in-depth story on Tse Chi Lop from this month's Toronto Life.
(update; He is is currently fighting extradition from the Netherlands to Australia.)

THE COMPANY MAN
Tse Chi Lop, the suspected ringleader of a $21-billion crime syndicate, may be the world’s most innovative drug lord. And Toronto was his training ground

https://torontolife.com/city/this-man-i ... rug-trade/
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Re: The hunt for Asia's El Chapo

Post by John Bingham »

From the article:
Sam Gor’s signature shipping method was to hide the drugs in loose-leaf green tea packages, each one neatly holding about a kilo of meth. The branding was strong enough that rival gangs sometimes used the green tea packages to ship their own meth.
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Re: The hunt for Asia's El Chapo

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

UPDATE
Tse Chi Lop: 'Asia's El Chapo' extradited to Australia
Published 6 days ago

Image
Asia's most-wanted alleged drug kingpin has been extradited to Australia where he faces potential life imprisonment.

Tse Chi Lop is accused of heading up a multibillion-dollar drug operation spanning several countries in the Asia Pacific, from Japan to New Zealand.

A notorious figure whose status in Asia has long drawn comparisons to Mexican drug lord El Chapo, he was arrested at a Dutch airport last year by Interpol.

Following a near two-year battle, he was finally extradited on Thursday.

Australian police released pictures of armed officers escorting him off the plane at Melbourne airport in handcuffs. He is due to face a local court on Thursday.

The 59-year-old is alleged to be the head of one of the world's biggest multibillion-dollar drug syndicates.

The Company, also known as the Sam Gor Syndicate, dominates the illegal drugs market across Asia. Australian police estimate it's responsible for up to 70% of the drugs coming into Australia alone.

They said the group smuggled huge quantities of drugs - particularly methamphetamine, but also heroin and ketamine - into the country in packs of tea.

Australia's charges against Mr Tse relate to alleged operations from 2012 to 2013, where a A$4.4m (£2.45m; $2.98m) load of methamphetamine was trafficked into the country.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64061527
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Re: The hunt for Asia's El Chapo

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

THE Mr Big in the SEA methamphetamine business, multi-billionaire, king-pin of "The Company" or the international "Sam Gor" crime syndicate, Tse Chi Lop, has finally been extradited to Australia for trial.
Stayed tuned. More details:

Alleged meth kingpin, known as 'Asia's El Chapo', extradited to Australia
Dec 22, 2022, 10:47
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. 

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. 

Also Read | A White Christmas! Authorities seize record amounts of cocaine ahead of the holiday season

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 cent to 70 per cent share of the wholesale regional meth market that has expanded at least fourfold in the past five years.
https://www.wionews.com/world/alleged-m ... lia-545349
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