Dutch police officers at Schiphol airport in November 2019.PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW / Reuters
The Dutch police have arrested the alleged head of one of the most powerful drug gangs in the world: Tse Chi Lop, known as
El Chapo
de Asia, in reference to the well-known Mexican trafficker Joaquín Guzmán.
The Chinese-born Canadian citizen is singled out as the head of The Company organization, which dominates a $ 70 billion drug market in Asia.
"He was already on the most wanted list and was arrested after receiving a tip," said a Dutch police spokesman.
Listed as one of the most wanted fugitives in the world, Tse was arrested at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam at the request of Australia, which will request his extradition for trial.
The Australian Federal Police maintain that The Company, also known as the Sam Gor Syndicate, is responsible for 70% of the traffic of all illegal drugs that enter that country.
The Reuters agency published a special investigation on Tse in 2019 describing him as "the most wanted man in Asia."
According to the United Nations, the organization's revenue from methamphetamine sales could have amounted to $ 17 billion in 2018. After Tse's arrest, in Operation Kungur, 20 agencies from all continents have participated, with the Australian police to the head, according to Reuters.
Tse was known to have moved between Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in recent years.
In the 1990s, he was arrested for drug trafficking in the United States, where he spent nine years in jail.