SYDNEY — Australian police have heightened security measures amid fears of retaliatory violence after a suspected Sydney gangland figure was shot dead in Vietnam in what authorities believe may be linked to an escalating underworld feud tied to the city’s drug trade.According to local broadcaster 9News, 24-year-old Lorenzo Lemalu was fatally shot outside a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday night.Australian media identified Lemalu as a member of the Coconut Cartel, a criminal group involved in Sydney’s organized crime network.Investigators are examining whether the killing is connected to an ongoing gang conflict involving criminal groups linked to the Alameddine crime family, which police say has fueled multiple violent incidents across Sydney in recent years.Lemalu was reportedly considered a senior figure within the Coconut Cartel after distancing himself from another gang associated with the Alameddine network.Australian authorities are now monitoring for potential revenge attacks while working with Vietnamese investigators to determine the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.The latest incident comes amid continued efforts by Australian law enforcement agencies to curb organized crime and gang-related violence linked to narcotics trafficking in Sydney.
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