Two charged in Samoa over death of Australian gangland boss in Vietnam
Two men have been charged in Samoa over the fatal shooting of Australian underworld figure Lorenzo Lemalu in Vietnam earlier this year.
Lemalu, a boss of the Coconut Cartel crime group, was shot dead outside a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City in May.
In footage of the shooting, a hooded hitman in a hat exits a restaurant circling behind Lemalu and his associates before unleashing several shots from a pistol. Nine
Australian Federal Police announced today that two men, a 31-year-old New Zealander, and a 33-year-old Samoan, had been arrested in Samoa and charged with conspiracy to murder.
Samoan authorities will allege the pair conspired with two other Samoan men previously arrested in Vietnam to carry out the shooting.
If found guilty, they could face life in prison.
The two men previously arrested in Vietnam, aged 22 and 26, were taken into custody on May 24.
The AFP said Samoan police initially arrested the 31-year-old in Samoa on May 27 and charged him with misleading police and corruption.
He tried to flee the country before being taken into custody.
Subsequent investigations by Samoan police and the AFP led to the conspiracy charge against the 31-year-old and 33-year-old.
Both have been granted conditional bail after an initial court hearing.
Lemalu, 24, was a senior figure in the Coconut Cartel crime group after cutting ties with a gang linked to the rival Alameddine family.
The fighting between the two groups is believed to have been behind multiple shootings on Sydney’s streets this year, including two recent mistaken-identity killings.
University student Marco Tapia, 23, was shot dead in bed during a violent home invasion at Glen Alpine on September 1.
The next day, Joshua MacDonald, 40, was gunned down by waiting hitmen in a Merrylands driveway.
Neither man had any links to organised crime.
Authorities are investigating whether Lemalu’s death was connected to Sydney’s ongoing gang conflict.
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