January 25, 2021
57-year-old Tse Chi Lop, a Chinese-born Canadian national has been arrested following a two-year manhunt led by Australian investigators on Friday, January 22.
Tse was the most notorious drug kingpin in Asia who traveled with a guard of eight Thai kickboxers and once lost $85 million at a Macau casino in a single night. Authorities say Tse was responsible for 70 percent of all narcotics entering Australia.
Some Asians called Tse, “Walter Yellow,” in reference to Sony’s Breaking Bad series about a high school teacher named Walter White, who became a major meth dealer in the United States.
Authorities say Tse was allegedly the cartel boss of the notorious crime group called “The Company.” It is said, “The Company” is the world’s largest meth dealer, which was made possible when Tse formed an alliance with five Chinese Triads that distributed everything from heroin and MDMA to ketamine via its “Golden Triangle,” super-labs in Asia, according to The Daily Mail.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates Tse’s alleged empire raked in between $10 billion to $23 billion a year.
Law enforcement agencies from 20 countries—including the US, Canada, Myanmar, China Thailand, and Japan—have been hunting Tse as part of Operation Kungur since 2019.
Tse’s arrest this week is believed to have come as he was being deported by Taiwanese officials to Canada via a layover in Europe, according to The Daily Mail. It’s unclear if Tse’s kickboxers actually did anything.
Despite Tse’s lavish lifestyle, the 57-year-old looks like an office worker rather than a cartel boss, which threw investigators off.
Police say The Company operates in several countries, moving drugs throughout Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Europe, and other parts of the world.
The multinational cartel also develops and maintains relationships with local criminal groups including Japan’s Yakuza and Australian outlaw biker gangs.
Feature Images via The Daily Mail