Samoa charges two over killing of Australian in Vietnam

Police in Samoa have charged two individuals, one New Zealander and one Samoan, in connection with the May killing of Sydney gangland figure Lorenzo Lemalu outside a seafood restaurant in Vietnam, according to Australia's Federal Police and Samoan law enforcement on Thursday. Both men could face life imprisonment as they were charged with conspiracy to murder. Lemalu, allegedly the leader of Sydney's "Coconut Cartel," an organized crime group, was targeted. A second man was seriously wounded during the attack.

Samoan police claim the duo conspired to murder Lemalu. Two others were arrested in Vietnam in May and confessed to carrying out the shooting under the direction of someone abroad. CCTV footage showed a man opening fire on a busy street in Ho Chi Minh City. Eight Vietnamese nationals were also arrested for aiding the escape and failing to report the crime.

This incident comes amid escalating gang violence in Sydney, with Australia's federal police chief Krissy Barrett warning that the city's high drug consumption, primarily cocaine, is fueling the crime. Australia has the highest per capita cocaine consumption globally, much of it smuggled through Pacific island nations like Samoa.