Lawyer for alleged drug lord blasts police calls for AFP to pass on evidence
Lawyers for an accused drug lord arrested in Thailand say he can’t fight his extradition to Australia because police refuse to provide the evidence in his case.
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Lawyers for an accused drug lord arrested in Thailand say he can’t fight his extradition to Australia because police refuse to provide the evidence in his case.
Chung Chak “John” Lee was arrested in late December as police dismantled an international drug cartel known as “The Company”, which has been accused of being behind up to 70 per cent of the methamphetamine into Australia.
Lee is alleged to be a senior member of the operation, which authorities say is a dominant player in the $91 billion annual Asia Pacific drug trade.
Australian Federal Police are now moving to have Lee extradited to Australia to face charges.
Lawyers for Lee, 65, are preparing to fight the extradition.
However, Lee’s Australian based solicitor Mohammad Chahine said the AFP have refused to provide him with information on the evidence his client is facing.
In one email exchange, Mr Chahine said the AFP advised him to submit a freedom of information request to obtain the legal documents from the case, which has received media attention in recent weeks.
“Various media outlets have been provided more information about this case than I have,” Mr Chahine said. “It makes it near impossible to defend Mr Lee’s extradition hearing, which he is legally entitled to do.
“At the moment there has been no information provided to show even what charges Mr Lee is facing,” Mr Chahine said. “It is a basic principle of the legal system that an accused can get a fair hearing. Without any information, this is not possible.
Lee’s Thailand based lawyers have been provided with material that is not in English.
His arrest was the second major arrest of players alleged to be Mr Bigs of the Asian drug trade.
The other was Tse Chi Lop who has been referred to as “Asia’s El Chapo” in reference to the infamous Mexican cocaine syndicate boss.
Tse was arrested in January and is accused of being involved in major drug imports into Australia.
The AFP has been approached for comment.
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