Tse Chi Lop immigrated to Toronto from Guangzhou in 1988. As part of a collection of criminal associates known as The Big Circle Boys, he worked alongside the Montreal-based Rizzuto crime family to allegedly build one of the biggest heroin smuggling operations in history. The effort would eventually earn him six years in an American Federal prison. 

In the years following his release, Tse allegedly turned his attention towards Asia, specifically the region's burgeoning appetite for methamphetamines. With ready access to cheap precursor materials, a global network of criminal organizations, and a business proposition that was just too enticing to turn down, Tse and his criminal network known as 'Sam Gor' allegedly dominated the Asian meth trade, and raked in billions of dollars while doing it. 

So how was Tse allegedly able to build not one, but two of the biggest drug smuggling rings the world has ever seen? How was he eventually caught? And what's happened to his alleged empire since his arrest?

GUEST: Stephen Marche, Freelance Writer and Reporter

Read the Toronto Life​​​​​​ ​story here

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