The hunt for Asia's El Chapo

Tse Chi Lop (top) is suspected by law enforcement agencies of running Asia’s biggest drug network, which distributes high-grade meth across the region that is often hidden in loose-leaf tea packaging. Police have raided some of the syndicate’s operations, but that hasn’t stemmed the overall flow of meth. - Reuters

Tse Chi Lop, a Canadian national born in China, is suspected of leading a vast multinational drug trafficking syndicate formed out of an alliance of five of Asia's triad groups, according to law enforcement officials. Its members call it simply "The Company." Police, in a nod to one of Tse's nicknames, have dubbed it Sam Gor, Cantonese for "Brother Number Three."

The syndicate, law enforcers believe, is funnelling tonnes of methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine to at least a dozen countries from Japan in North Asia to New Zealand in the South Pacific. But meth – a highly addictive drug with devastating physical and mental effects on long-term users – is its main business, they say.