Extraordinary story of how an orphan raised by drug traffickers and a man whose business failed were arrested in Australia’s biggest ever heroin importation by North Koreans
- Wee Quay Tan oversaw the import of more than $165million worth of heroin
- Tan tried to import 150kg of heroin to Australia from North Korea in a freighter
- The Singapore-based orphan was raised by drug smugglers he called ‘uncles’
- Tan has a tattoo in Chinese symbols inked on his back that says ‘outside the law’
An orphan who was raised by drug peddlers helped import more than $165million worth of heroin from North Korea to Australian shores.
Singapore-based drug smuggler Wee Quay Tan, 48, who has a tattoo in Chinese symbols that translate to ‘outside the law’ inked on his back, found himself in the middle of the biggest drug bust in Australian history on April 16, 2003.
After initially lying about his identity to Australian Federal Police with a fake passport, the man’s true identity began to emerge after police realised his fingerprints matched those of a fugitive wanted in Denmark, reported The Age.
The tattooed man, who was orphaned at a young age and raised by a group of drug smugglers he called his ‘uncles’, was arrested by Danish authorities in 2000 for trying to sneak six kilograms of heroin through Copenhagen airport.
Wee Quay Tan has a tattoo in Chinese symbols across his shoulder blades that translate to ‘outside the law’
Tan escaped the jail in Denmark with a Norwegian inmate and fled to Bangkok where he met up with his uncles.
The fugitive told Australian police he asked his uncles if he could leave the drug trafficking business, before one shot him in the leg.
Detective Sergeant Celeste Johnston said the only thing police couldn’t confirm was whether Tan asked his guardians if he could leave the trafficking business.
‘You can’t blame him for trying to minimise what he’s facing. But I think more likely was that he’d obviously done something that didn’t impress the Mr Bigs above him and his uncles. They were showing him who was boss,’ she said.
Tan also has a large tattoo of a dragon inked over his shoulders and chest
Three years later, he waited at Boggaley Creek near Lorne, south-west of Melbourne, with associate Kiam Fah Teng for 150kg of heroin to arrive in a rubber dinghy from the North Korean in 4015-tonne freighter Pong Su.
A police surveillance team was waiting for the traffickers at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Lorne when the men arrived back in their rented Toyota Tarago at 1am on April 16, reported the Herald Sun.
In the van, police found two 25kg packages of heroin. A further 75kg was found in a Ford Focus driven by two associates.
The remaining 25kg was lost at sea when a boat capsized.
Tan and Teng were arrested and charged.
Kiam Fah Teng was arrested in April 2003 for attempting to import 150 kg of heroin into Australia
The Age reported Malaysian-born Teng, a father-of-one, didn’t have a history in the drug trade and had lived in the United States for 20 years when he met his wife and worked in hospitality.
He saved the equivalent of $110,000 Australian dollars and invested it in a Malaysian rubber and timber business.
In 2000, the investment crashed and the man took up gambling.
Teng wound up with a $30,000 debt and took the job on the Pong Su to pay it back.
Tan tried to smuggle 150kg of heroin to Australian in 4015-tonne freighter Pong Su
Teng’s lawyer told the Victorian Court of Appeal he was too ashamed to tell his parents the truth and led them to believe he was working in Australia.
They died while he was in custody.
Teng was paroled last year and deported back to Malaysia.
Tan was sentenced to 24 years in Victoria’s Fulham prison and is eligible for parole soon.
According to prison authorities, he has been a model inmate and a good influence on others.