THE SQUIZ
Tse Chi Lop, one of the world’s most-wanted drug kingpins, has faced court in Melbourne 3 years after the Australian Federal Police (AFP) secured an Interpol red notice for his arrest and a decade after they first started looking for him. Yesterday, AFP Assistant Commissioner Krissy Barrett said it was “one of the most high-profile arrests in the history of the AFP”. The 59yo is often referred to as ‘Mr Big’ and Asia’s answer to infamous Mexican drug lord El Chapo – it’s alleged he runs one of the world’s biggest drug syndicates, worth billions. And Aussie authorities say he’s responsible for up to 70% of the drugs coming into the country.

TELL ME MORE…
Police believe Tse has been running the international drug trafficking business known as ‘The Company’ or the ‘Sam Gor syndicate’ – it’s said to rake in $12-26 billion a year, and it’s been behind vast quantities of drugs – particularly methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine – being imported into Oz. Another high-ranking cartel member, 66yo Chinese-British national Chung Chak Lee, was extradited to Oz earlier this year, and it’s taken nearly 2 years to bring Tse here… He was arrested by Dutch police in January 2021 as part of Operation Kungur – an international operation led by Aussie police. As a Canadian citizen, Tse began a lengthy court battle fighting his extradition as he denied involvement in drug trafficking. Tse didn’t apply for bail yesterday, and he remains in custody. Tse and Lee will both return to court in February. Assistant Commissioner Barrett said it’s part of the AFP’s efforts to make Australia a “hostile place” for drug traffickers.

ANYTHING ELSE?
Yes… In another high-profile Asian crime case, Charles Sobraj, a serial killer and conman known as ‘The Serpent’, is set to walk free from a Nepalese prison next week because of poor health after serving most of his sentence. The 78yo confessed to murdering several Western tourists – in total, it’s thought he killed at least 20 people in Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Turkey, Nepal, Iran and Hong Kong in the 70s and 80s. The French citizen’s signature move was using disguises to evade police and escape from an Indian prison in the 1980s. It took until 1997 to recapture him, and he was deported to France. Six years later, he was arrested at a casino in Kathmandu for the murder of 2 backpackers, and he’s remained in that country ever since. In 2021, the case was turned into a popular Netflix drama series called, you guessed it, The Serpent.