the Company.<\/a>\u201d Also known as Sam Gor, the Company is a super-syndicate formed by an alliance of previously warring triad factions. He is also believed to be the right-hand man of Tse Chi Lop, dubbed “Asia\u2019s El Chapo.\u201d Tse is the reputed leader of the Company. He was arrested last month in Amsterdam.<\/p>\nThe two men were imprisoned together in the US in the 1980s after they were convicted of smuggling heroin into the country.<\/p>\n
Lee, 65, was apprehended in October at his apartment in an affluent district of Bangkok, authorities said. Both men were detained after Australian federal police put out a notice to international law enforcement agencies demanding their arrests.<\/p>\n
Lee is currently fighting extradition to Australia, claiming mistaken identity, while Tse is in prison in the Netherlands, where a court has yet to rule on his extradition.<\/strong><\/p>\nBillions in Revenues<\/h2>\n
The arrests represent a huge coup for Australian law enforcement against one of the biggest narcotics smuggling organizations in the world. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates the Company made up to US$17 billion from methamphetamine trafficking in the Asia-Pacific region alone in 2018.<\/p>\n
The Company is believed to be responsible for up to 70 percent of all illegal drugs trafficked into Australia over the past 20 years.<\/p>\n
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The two men are expected to be charged in Australia with importing illicit drugs a decade ago, according to Reuters. Authorities have them on tape discussing supplying a Melbourne drugs ring with millions of dollars\u2019 worth of heroin and methylamphetamine.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nPolice say they cracked the code the Company used to communicate with the gang. Its leader, a Melbourne greengrocer named Suky Lieu, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2015 for importing illegal drugs.<\/p>\n