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Asia’s “El Chapo” may be extradited to Australia

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Asia’s “El Chapo” may be extradited to Australia

57-year-old Canadian suspected drug tycoon Tse Chi Lop may be extradited to Australia. The court in Rotterdam determined this on Friday. The man was arrested in the Netherlands earlier this year at the request of the Australian authorities, who want to prosecute him for possible involvement in drug smuggling.

The man, also known as the ‘El Chapo of Asia’ and according to Australian media one of the most wanted drug tycoons in the world, was arrested at Schiphol in connection with drug smuggling. He tried in vain to avoid eviction.

The Canadian was on his way from Taiwan – where he lived – to his home country of Canada on Friday, January 22. The arrest was at Schiphol, where he made a stopover.

Tse risks a life sentence in Australia and fears an unfair trial. “Mass media call me the king of a drug cartel, but that’s not right. I am afraid that if I go to Australia and there is a trial, the judge will treat me unjustly with coloured glasses. Media spread rumours that are not the truth, that’s why I’m very afraid,” Tse told the court in Rotterdam last week.

However, the judge thinks differently and assumes “trust in the Australian legal system and a fair trial in that country.”

Australia formally asks for Tse’s extradition because he allegedly imported several dozen kilos of hard drugs in 2013. But according to Australian media, the drug lord would be responsible for 70 per cent of all drugs entering Australia. Tse’s lawyer André Seebregts, therefore, expects the Australians to expand the charges considerably later.

“Whether the suspect will be prosecuted in Australia for more offences has not yet been revealed,” the judge said. “If Australia is planning to do that, then it can’t be done like that. Australia then needs permission from the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security.”

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