Police are hunting for a drug lord "in the same league as El Chapo" whose multibillion-dollar meth operation has made him the most wanted man in Asia.

Tse Chi Lop, a Canadian national born in China, is suspected of heading up an enormous drug trafficking syndicate spanning several countries in the Asia-Pacific, from Japan to New Zealand.

Reuters reports that his group - known as "The Company" or "Sam Gor" - enjoyed revenue of between $8bn (£6.3bn) and $17.7bn (£13.9bn) from meth alone last year. It also deals in ketamine and other illegal drugs.

Image: This meth lab in Myanmar was found in a compound believed to belong to another suspected member of the syndicate

Image: The compound was raided by police in May

The scale of the business has made the 55-year-old the chief target of Operation Kungur, which is said to be the biggest ever co-ordinated international effort to tackle drug trafficking in Asia.

Australian police are leading the operation, with support from authorities in China, Canada, the US and others.


Reuters has seen official documents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Taiwanese law enforcement identifying Tse as the leader of The Company, which often hides the substances it sells in packs of tea.

The strategy has helped his operation secure between 40% and 70% of the regional meth market.

Some investigators say the scale of the business puts him "in the same league as El Chapo".

The Mexican drug lord, real name Joaquin Guzman, was sentenced to life plus 30 years in jail earlier this year after spending decades running an enormous drugs empire.

Image: The Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo, who is serving a life sentence plus 30 years

Jeremy Douglas, from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said: "Tse Chi Lop is in the league of El Chapo or maybe Pablo Escobar.

"The word kingpin often gets thrown around, but there is no doubt it applies here."

Escobar was often called "The King of Cocaine" and was one of the wealthiest criminals in history until police shot him dead in 1993, aged 44.

Image: Pablo Escobar was killed 25 years ago

Reuters reports that Tse is one of four Canadian citizens on a list of 19 leaders at The Company, with others hailing from the likes of Hong Kong, Myanmar and mainland China.

Court records show that before joining the operation, Tse - who moved to Canada in 1988 after a spell as the head of a triad-like criminal group in China - faced drug trafficking charges in New York in 1998.

He was found guilty of conspiracy to import heroin into the US and could have faced a life sentence, but was handed a nine-year term after arguing that his ailing parents needed care and his son, 12, had a lung disorder.

After he was freed in 2006, police say he returned to Canada and suspect he quickly returned to the drug game through connections in China, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

El Chapo: Drug lord's empire and jailbreaks

Tse has reportedly amassed a huge personal fortune in the years since, and is said to pay for a personal guard that includes a group of Thai kickboxers.

He has also hosted lavish parties, enjoyed stays at five-star resorts and frequented casinos across Asia, with investigators believing he once lost $66m (£52m) in one night in Macau.

His ever-increasing wealth and the sheer size of his drug empire - which is said to work closely with organised crime networks in Japan, Thailand and Australia - is what put him on the radar of Operation Kungur.

The authorities involved have so far refused to comment on the investigation.