Meet Tse Chi Lop, the man once feared as ‘Asia’s El Chapo’
The man once labelled “Asia’s El Chapo” has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in Melbourne, marking the end of one of Australia’s most protracted and high-profile drug investigations.
Tse Chi Lop, a 62-year-old Canadian national long suspected of running one of the world’s most powerful narcotics networks, was jailed for his role in a multimillion-dollar methamphetamine trafficking plot.
Tse was handed a non-parole period of 10 years in the County Court of Victoria after admitting to conspiring to traffic large quantities of illicit drugs within Australia. With credit for time already served, he could walk free in just over five years.
Prosecutors said Tse attempted to move 20 kilograms of methamphetamine — valued at around 4.4 million Australian dollars — between Sydney and Melbourne over a 12-month period from March 2012 to March 2013.
His conviction followed an Australian Federal Police (AFP) probe that targeted Sam Gor, the transnational crime syndicate he was accused of leading.
Sam Gor, also known as “The Company,” has been linked to industrial-scale production and distribution of meth across the Asia-Pacific region. At its height, Australian authorities believe it was the country’s largest supplier of the drug, pushing tonnes of product through a vast international network of traffickers.
Tse’s fall began in 2021, when Dutch police arrested him at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport at the request of the AFP. He spent months contesting extradition before being sent to Australia in late 2022 to face charges.
His sentencing brings to a close more than a decade of investigative work. AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the outcome marked the conclusion of “one of the most high-profile investigations in the AFP’s history,” describing it as a testament to the force’s global reach.
While Tse did not face charges relating to the full spectrum of Sam Gor’s alleged activities, his conviction represents a symbolic victory for Australian authorities, who have long viewed him as a central figure in the region’s drug trade.
Law enforcement agencies across Asia, Europe and North America have spent years trying to dismantle the syndicate, which they allege operated with a level of sophistication comparable to the world’s most notorious cartels.
For now, the man once regarded as the most influential meth trafficker in the Asia-Pacific is behind bars in Melbourne. But authorities say the wider fight against the networks he helped build is far from finished.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
