Global drug syndicate leader Tse Chi Lop sentenced to 16 years in prison
Police alleged Tse Chi Lop was the head of a syndicate known as The Company or Sam Gor. (Supplied: Australian Federal Police)
In short:
Tse Chi Lop has been sentenced to 16 years' jail for conspiring to traffic a commercial quantity of drugs into Australia.
It is alleged the 62-year-old was head of a multi-billion-dollar syndicate known as The Company, or Sam Gor.
The maximum penalty is typically life but a deal was struck between a former Australian attorney-general and Dutch authorities.
Tse Chi Lop was once described as an international drug kingpin, in the league of Pablo Escobar and Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
On Thursday, Tse sat in a Melbourne courtroom, head slumped, as a judge sentenced the 62-year-old to 16 years' jail for conspiring to traffic a commercial quantity of drugs into Australia.
Tse's arrest in 2021 in Amsterdam — and subsequent extradition to Australia — was heralded as one of the federal police's biggest-ever busts.
The Chinese-Canadian national was alleged to be the head of a multi-billion-dollar syndicate known as The Company, or Sam Gor.
Tse Chi Lop was attempting to board a flight back to Canada when he was arrested in Amsterdam. (Reuters)
In usual circumstances, Tse would have been facing a potential maximum sentence of life in prison.
However, as County Court judge Peter Rozen noted, an "unusual" deal struck between former Australian attorney-general Michaelia Cash and Dutch authorities meant the maximum penalty could only be 25 years.
"I am now bound by the undertaking the [former] attorney-general gave," Judge Rozen said.
In a statement, Senator Cash told ABC News the arrangement was necessary to secure Tse's extradition.
"He would have stayed offshore and beyond the reach of Australian justice," she said.
"The decision ensured an alleged global drug kingpin stood in the dock of an Australian court instead of walking free on a legal technicality."
A multi-billion-dollar operation
The charges covered the period between 2012 and 2013, when Tse was heading up a crime group that moved and sold drugs internationally.
Tse and another associate were based overseas and their Australian contact was Suky Lieu, a man who would eventually be jailed for 25 years.
Lieu would store the drugs in local storehouses and take commissions, while sending money back to Tse and his associate. Sometimes the group would speak in code, referring to drugs as "Porsche" and "fast car", the court heard.
Lieu was arrested in 2013 after police seized methamphetamines and the drug PMAA from a safehouse in Hinchinbrook, NSW.
Loading...Lieu was convicted in 2015, but it took another six years for authorities to land Tse behind bars.
In 2019, Tse was labelled "Asia's El Chapo" in a Reuters investigation, which described him as "Asia's most-wanted man".
Tse's syndicate was said to be responsible for funnelling tonnes of drugs into at least a dozen countries, generating revenue of up to $USD 17.7 billion ($26.8 billion).
The kingpin was reportedly protected by a guard of Thai kickboxers and reportedly once blew 60 million Euros in a Macau casino sitting.
The Australian Federal Police said at its peak, Sam Gor was the biggest trafficker of methamphetamines into Australia.
During the COVID lockdowns, Tse was kicked out of Taiwan and arrested by Dutch authorities at the Amsterdam airport.
His extradition to Australia was completed in December 2022.
Deportation likely after release
It took nearly three years for Tse's case to be finalised in Australia, much of it conducted during secret, closed court hearings.
On Thursday, when the court was finally opened to the public, it was revealed that Tse had agreed to plead guilty to the drug conspiracy charge after negotiations with federal prosecutors.
Tse sat in the court dock, wearing thick black glasses and dressed in a navy blue shirt, and was assisted by an interpreter. Also in the courtroom were some of the federal police officers that brought about his downfall.
Bundles of cash that were seized by the AFP in 2013. (ABC News: Rebecca Ritters)
Judge Rozen said Tse had previously been jailed in the United States for nearly eight years over similar drug crimes.
"That sentence clearly did not deter you from drug-related offending," he said.
"The proliferation of prohibited drugs is a disastrous blight on our society."
The judge said Tse had shown little remorse for his victims, but felt sorry for the position he had placed his family in.
His wife and adult children, who are based overseas, continue to support him while he remains in the maximum-security wing of Barwon prison, the court heard.
"While you've not been the father you hoped you could be, you hope to make amends by being a present and supportive grandfather," the judge said.
He sentenced Tse to 16 years' jail, setting a non-parole period of 10 years.
Tse is likely to be deported upon release from prison.
The nearly five years Tse has spent in custody were counted as time served.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the case was one of the biggest in the agency's history.
"This investigation highlights that the long arm of the AFP can reach criminals across the world," she said.