A man accused of conspiring in the execution of a Sydney gang chief in Vietnam says he will fight the charges after defeating allegations he lied to police about knowing the hitmen and trying to bribe his way out of Samoa.
asserted
he → accuse → Samoa
New Zealand national James Atua, 31, was charged alongside Fred Oliva Junior Papalii, 33, in Samoa last week.
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Atua → charge → Samoa
Both were charged with conspiracy to murder Lorenzo Lemalu, leader of the Coconut Cartel who was living in Ho Chi Minh city until he was shot in May.
uncertain
he → charge → May
His execution was captured on camera and shared on social media at the height of the latest gang war between his foot soldiers – the Alameddine and Badger crime networks.
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execution → capture → soldiers
Two Samoan men, Joseph Vaa and Steve Tafia, were arrested days later in Vietnam and allegedly admitted to tracking and killing the Coconut Cartel gangsters.
uncertain
men → arrest → gangsters
Police followed Vaa and Tafia back to Samoa, where they had worked at a car rental company owned by Atua’s mother.
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they → follow → mother
Atua spoke with police in late May but allegedly lied about his relationship to the hitmen.
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Atua → speak → hitmen
The Herald can reveal Atua then allegedly went to the airport and tried to bribe an immigration official with 500 Samoan tala ($255) to get back to New Zealand.
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Atua → reveal → Zealand
He was charged with corruption and misleading police and spent weeks in prison.
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He → charge → prison
Australian Federal Police and authorities in both Vietnam and Samoa executed search warrants and concluded that Atua and Papalii had conspired with the alleged hitmen to carry out the shooting.
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Atua → execute → shooting
The international investigation moved to charge Atua and Papalii with conspiracy to murder on September 10.
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investigation → move → September
Atua decided to bring in outside help and flew Sydney solicitor Abbas Soukie in to represent him in the Samoan court.
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Atua → decide → court
“The allegations against Atua are completely baseless,” Soukie told the Herald.
“He categorically rejects them and will vehemently defend them in due course.”
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He → tell → course
Atua’s lawyer had lobbied Samoa’s attorney-general, saying the bribery case was weak.
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case → lobby → general
The attorney-general agreed and withdrew the charge.
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general → agree → charge
The misleading police charge was dismissed in court due to a lack of evidence.
But Atua still faces charges on conspiracy to murder and money-laundering, which will be formally laid on September 28.
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which → dismiss → September
Lemalu, also of Samoan heritage, was 24 years old when he was shot dead in Vietnam.
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he → shoot → Vietnam
He was once so loyal to an Alameddine street gang, Proper 60, that he tattooed it across his stomach.
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he → tattoo → stomach
One photograph showed him, in 2023, posing with the Alameddine’s exiled boss Rafat Alameddine in Lebanon.
But Lemalu was one of an influential group of Pasifika men falling out with the Alameddines who went from loyal enforcers to feared nemeses.
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who → show → nemeses
Lemalu and fellow Coconut Cartel figures Anthony Pele and Iziah Utai fled overseas after they allegedly botched underworld shootings and killed innocents or missed their targets entirely.
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they → flee → targets
Some police theorise Lemalu’s death-writ was signed by the Badger crime network after the cartel was raided in April and $120 million worth of methamphetamine was seized.
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worth → theorise → methamphetamine
Vaa and Tafia allegedly flew in to Ho Chi Minh City and shadowed the Coconut boss for a week before pulling the trigger.
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Vaa → fly → trigger
Even Lemalu’s funeral, back in Sydney, was marred by conflict.
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funeral → mar → conflict
Police raids from Strike Force Golporta rounded up alleged cartel associates in Sydney.
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raids → round → Sydney
Teenage mercenaries then drove past a Punchbowl funeral home, which they mistakenly believed was hosting Lemalu’s grieving family, and opened fire with an SKS assault rifle.
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they → drive → rifle
More than 30 rounds punctured the glass facade, injuring no one, but leading to a further wave of arrests.
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rounds → puncture → arrests
Lemalu was finally laid to rest at Forest Lawn after a funeral at Lakemba Mosque under heavy police presence.
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Lemalu → lay → presence
The Aporia
