Samoa charges two over killing of Australian in Vietnam

SYDNEY: Police in Samoa have charged two men over the killing of a Sydney gangland figure outside a seafood restaurant in Vietnam in May, they said Thursday.

The men – one a New Zealander and the other a Samoan – face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment after being charged with conspiracy to murder, Australia's Federal Police and Samoan law enforcement said.

The two appeared in court on Wednesday and were granted conditional bail.

Samoan police allege they conspired to murder Lorenzo Lemalu, purportedly leader of Sydney's so-called "Coconut Cartel" organised crime group.

A second man was also seriously wounded in the attack.

Two other men were arrested in Vietnam in May over the killing.

Vietnamese police said they had admitted to carrying out the shooting in Ho Chi Minh City under the direction of an individual abroad.

CCTV footage shared by Australian media of the killing showed a man opening fire on a crowded street in the southeast Asian metropolis.

Eight Vietnamese were also arrested in the same case for helping in the escape and failing to report the crime.

Lemalu's killing came as regular Sydneysiders have found themselves in the crosshairs of escalating gang violence in Australia's largest city this year.

This week, Australia's federal police chief Krissy Barrett warned that the country's "voracious consumption" of drugs was fuelling the violence.

Australia has the highest per capita cocaine consumption in the world, much of it trafficked in through Pacific island countries like Samoa.