Second drug kingpin arrested in Thailand tightening dragnet on huge syndicate

A second senior leader of a vast drug syndicate has been arrested, a Thai narcotics official said, as a transnational dragnet tightens on the Sam Gor group, which police say dominates the $70 billion annual Asia Pacific drug trade. The October arrest of Hong Kong citizen Lee Chung Chak in Bangkok precededlast month's high-profile arrest in the Netherlands of Tse Chi Lop, a China-born Canadian national who police suspect is the top leader of the syndicate, also called "The Company."

Lee, 65, is a former prison mate of Tse's suspected of being involved in drug trafficking for four decades. A 2018 Australian Federal Police (AFP) document reviewed by Reuters outlining the top 19 targets in the syndicate described Lee as a "senior project manager responsible for big ventures of border controlled drugs."

The two arrests on different continents within three months stem from a decade-long investigation by the AFP, which also leads the multinational Operation Kungur task force targeting the syndicate.

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