Tse hid drugs inside tea shipments and made a promise to customers: Any delivery intercepted by the police would be replaced at no extra cost.īusiness boomed, especially with meth, even as drug seizures increased, along with the arrests of customers. To increase demand and distribution, the authorities said, Mr. On the supply side, he relied on precursor chemicals from China and a leadership team that spanned the globe, and he also made special use of the Golden Triangle, the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet in a lawless morass that is infamous as a global production hub for methamphetamine and heroin. Once he got out, the Australian authorities said, he soon returned to drugs. In wealth and ambition, he was sometimes compared to Pablo Escobar of Colombia or Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán of Mexico - brash, violent drug barons who each in their own time controlled American and European drug markets. Tse developed a reputation for building a stable, illicit drug distribution network while staying largely out of sight. “The syndicate targeted Australia over a number of years, importing and distributing large amounts of illicit narcotics, laundering the profits overseas and living off the wealth obtained from crime,” the Australian Federal Police said in a statement. Tse as closely as Australia, and for good reason: The syndicate he runs is believed to be responsible for 70 percent of the illegal drugs that reach Australia, where meth in particular has ravaged rural areas. In a separate incident, NSW police said they had charged four people after finding about A$155 million worth of crystal meth and cocaine hidden behind the headlights of a vintage Bentley car shipped from Canada.The United Nations has reported that The Company makes as much as $17 billion a year moving drugs to Japan, New Zealand and many other countries, relying on supply and distribution networks that cross the Asia-Pacific region. The name 'ice' became popular due to its white little 'crystals' and glass-like appearance. Methylamphetamine, commonly referred to as methamphetamine or by its street name of ice or crystal meth, is one of the most potent varieties of the amphetamine drug. No charges have been made in relation to the latest seizure but police had arrested three men over the drugs found last week.
These figures are staggering," NSW Detective Chief Superintendent John Watson said during a media briefing.Īll shipments originated in the Middle East region with the consignment details of both drug seizures identical, Watson said. "The capability that this syndicate has demonstrated to us, in terms of volume and size is enormous.
Just over 1,000 kg of methylamphetamine was found in the latest seizure, police said on Friday, after about 750 kg of ice was confiscated last week. More than 1,800 kg of methylamphetamine was found in containers arriving in Sydney port over recent weeks hidden in marble stone slabs, New South Wales (NSW) state police said in a statement. SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian police said on Friday it had seized some A$1.6 billion ($1.1 billion) worth of crystal meth, also known as 'ice', concealed within marble stones in several sea freight containers, in what it said was the biggest ever haul of the drug in the country. This content was published on Aug04:05 Aug04:05