Taiwan pushed to nab drug lord Tse Chi Lop

The accused leader of one of the world’s biggest drug trafficking syndicates was arrested only after international pressure mounted on Taiwan to expel him.

Accused drug lord Tse Chi Lop.

The accused leader of one of the world’s biggest drug trafficking syndicates was arrested only after international pressure mounted on Taiwan, where he was known to be sheltering, to expel him.

Tse Chi Lop, accused of uniting five Asian triads into a mega-syndicate, was arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport last month at the request of Australia via an Interpol alert.

He had just arrived on a commercial flight from Taiwan while on his way to Canada. His arrest stems from a huge Australian Federal Police-led investigation, Operation Kungur, involving a global coalition of law enforcement agencies.

The Attorney-General’s Department and the AFP are ­preparing a request to ­extradite Tse, 57, from The Netherlands to face justice over major drug ­importations while investigations continue into his network.

According to law enforcement agents who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the AFP had known for some time that Tse was in Taiwan, and had been privately applying sustained pressure to have him arrested.

This included frequent visits from Australian officials to Taiwan, a source said.

“He had some high-level ­protection in Taiwan, and connections political and otherwise,” the source said.

“It became a high-level conversation in the country that he was there. A lot of pressure was being applied on Taiwan, not just from Australia. He had no choice but to leave.”

The AFP issued a warrant for Tse’s arrest in 2019, the same year he was publicly named as the ­alleged leader of The Company, a syndicate of previously warring triads suspected of supplying much of Australia’s crystal meth, or ice.

Some of the countries involved in hunting him and his syndicate have a significant presence in ­Taiwan, including the US.

Dutch police work closely with Australia on a wide range of investigations and were waiting when Tse arrived in Amsterdam on January 22.

“We have a good relationship with police in Australia, so when we knew he was coming in our ­direction we were able to catch the guy,” Dutch police spokesman Thomas Aling said.

“He’s in prison now in The Netherlands and … he’s going to be transported to Australia.”

A video of Tse’s arrest shows two officers instructing him to put his hands against the wall and asking if he has any sharp objects or weapons. The officers then ­request his phone, which he indicates is in his small black carrybag.

Tse was outwardly calm, just as he was when arrested in Hong Kong decades earlier on a US warrant over a drug conspiracy case.

Tse was charged in 1998 with conspiring with Italian mafia to import heroin into New York via Canada.

He was extradited to the US and jailed for nine years.

He is accused of returning to the organised crime business after his release and now draws comparisons with drug kingpins El Chapo and Pablo Escobar.

Wim de Bruin, spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor’s ­office, said the extradition process could take months.

A petrol tank used to conceal a quantity of heroin and methamphetamine seized as part of AFP-led operations.

“At this moment we are waiting for an extradition request from Australia,” Mr de Bruin said this week.

“When that’s received a Dutch court will deal with the request.”

The Attorney-General’s Department said Tse was wanted for prosecution in Australia “for a drug-related offence … As this matter is ongoing it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

The AFP declined to comment but said at the time of Tse’s ­arrest that he was “of significant interest to the AFP and other law enforcement agencies”.