Australian police on high alert after Sydney underworld figure shot dead in Vietnam

Australian police were on high alert over fears of retaliatory violence after a suspected Sydney gangland figure was shot dead in Vietnam amid an escalating underworld feud linked to the city’s drug trade, 9News reported on Saturday.

Lorenzo Lemalu, 24, identified by Australian media as a member of the Coconut Cartel, was fatally shot outside a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday night.

Authorities are investigating whether the killing is connected to an ongoing gang conflict in Sydney involving criminal networks linked to the Alameddine crime family.

Lemalu was considered a senior figure within the Coconut Cartel after distancing himself from a gang associated with the Alameddine network, a rivalry that police say has fueled a wave of violence across Sydney in recent years.

Police in Australia are now monitoring for possible revenge attacks as investigators work with Vietnamese authorities to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting.