Australian authorities were pressuring Sunday, January 24, to obtain the extradition of a man arrested in the Netherlands, suspected of being the drug lord in Asia, and one of the most wanted men in the world.
Aged 57 and hunted for years, Tse Chi Lop was arrested Friday by the Dutch police at the request of the Australian Federal Police.
In a statement on Sunday, Australian authorities said a man "of considerable interest" to law enforcement officials was arrested, before an Australian police spokeswoman revealed his name was Tse Chi Lop .
A "big cap"
This Chinese Canadian citizen is compared to Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Asked by AFP, Thomas Aling, spokesman for the Dutch police, also confirmed that "on Friday, the national police arrested a suspect who was on Europol's most wanted list".
According to him, the arrest took place at Schiphol international airport near Amsterdam, on the landing of a flight of which he did not wish to give the origin.
"This person is currently in prison, waiting to see what will happen since it is an Australian investigation", added Thomas Aling.
"An extradition request has to come" because "Australia would like to have this gentleman" who is a "big shot" for them, he added, saying that there is a good chance that the request of Canberra is doing well.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) named him the alleged leader of the huge Asian cartel known as "Sam Gor", a major producer and global supplier of methamphetamine.
"Sam Gor" is said to launder the billions derived from drugs thanks, in particular, to casinos, hotels and real estate companies in the Mekong region of Southeast Asia.
Heroin and methamphetamine
Australian Federal Police said the arrest followed an operation that, in 2012-2013, resulted in the arrest of 27 people linked to a crime syndicate in five countries.
This group was suspected of importing "substantial amounts of heroin and methamphetamine" into Australia, a very lucrative market for drug traffickers.
"For years he had targeted Australia, distributing large quantities of narcotics, laundering overseas profits and living off the wealth derived from crime," according to Australian police.
During the nets conducted in Melbourne in 2012-2013, the police seized goods worth 9 million Australian dollars (5.70 million euros), including cash, handbags branded, casino chips and jewelry.
The arrest of Tse Chi Lop, nearly ten years after this operation, is a major step forward for the Australian authorities.
The Attorney General of the island continent intends to submit a formal extradition request so that Tse Chi Lop can be tried by Australian justice.
Most of the highly addictive drug methamphetamine circulating in Asia comes from the "Golden Triangle", an area on the border between Laos, Burma, Thailand and southwest China.
With AFP
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