Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
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A group of five people accused of distributing a drug concoction that led to deaths in Melbourne will remain behind bars until their cases are heard later this year.
All five are charged with trafficking offences. One - Nghi Le, 33, who police allege was the gunman who shot at them in a early morning raid in St Albans on Monday, sparking a four-hour siege – is also facing charges of attempted murder.
Mr Le did not apply for bail when he appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday and has been remanded in custody until May 22.
Police say they were preparing to raid a St Albans home at about 6am on Monday when shots were fired at them, sparking the siege.
Heavily armed Special Operations Group officers stormed the property, but the gunman was not inside, sparking a citywide manhunt.
Mr Le handed himself in to police later on Monday afternoon after police made a public call for information.
He told bail justice Kenneth Coughlan he thought his home was being broken into when he fired the gun and it was his first time even holding such a weapon.
"I didn't realise it was the police," he said.
Nghi Le appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Photo: Victoria Police
Mr Le is also charged with attempted murder against three officers, reckless misconduct firing a firearm, assaulting police and using an unregistered gun.
Four others - Twan Van Pham, 26, Loan Thi Kim Lo, a 27-year-old Maribyrnong woman, Terry Trinh Ostojic, 55 of Cairnlea; and Daniele Marchei, a 28-year-old Italian national living in the Melbourne CBD - also appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, charged with trafficking offences.
They were remanded to appear before the court on June 20. None of them applied for bail.
Police will allege the group combined two drugs, 4-flouroamphetamine (4-FA) and 25C-NBOMe, for onselling as MDMA.
Those drugs are linked to three deaths of revellers in Melbourne in December and January, overdoses on the Gold Coast during schoolies, and others in Perth and Canberra, police say.
A months-long investigation uncovered the group was part of a syndicate linked to Vietnam and Hong Kong, importing a combined 117 kilogram of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA, Detective Senior Constable Tim Norris told the court.
The group was also involved in distribution of pseudoephedrine and the manufacturing of methamphetamine in Melbourne homes, he said.
A shipment of pseudoephedrine, destined for Mr Ostojic's Sunshine tofu factory, was intercepted during the investigation, Detective Senior Constable Norris said.
Members of the syndicate also met with Hells Angels bikie members in Perth, he said.
The court also heard Kings Park woman Huong Nguyen, 26, was arrested at Southern Cross Station in December, allegedly carrying 15kg of the 4-FA 25C-NBOMe combination in a suitcase.
She has been remanded in custody since her arrest.
A seventh person, Chinh Khiem, 36, was arrested in Sydney on Monday and will appear in court on Tuesday for extradition to Victoria.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/al...28-gun9dl.html
All five are charged with trafficking offences. One - Nghi Le, 33, who police allege was the gunman who shot at them in a early morning raid in St Albans on Monday, sparking a four-hour siege – is also facing charges of attempted murder.
Mr Le did not apply for bail when he appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday and has been remanded in custody until May 22.
Police say they were preparing to raid a St Albans home at about 6am on Monday when shots were fired at them, sparking the siege.
Heavily armed Special Operations Group officers stormed the property, but the gunman was not inside, sparking a citywide manhunt.
Mr Le handed himself in to police later on Monday afternoon after police made a public call for information.
He told bail justice Kenneth Coughlan he thought his home was being broken into when he fired the gun and it was his first time even holding such a weapon.
"I didn't realise it was the police," he said.
Nghi Le appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Photo: Victoria Police
Mr Le is also charged with attempted murder against three officers, reckless misconduct firing a firearm, assaulting police and using an unregistered gun.
Four others - Twan Van Pham, 26, Loan Thi Kim Lo, a 27-year-old Maribyrnong woman, Terry Trinh Ostojic, 55 of Cairnlea; and Daniele Marchei, a 28-year-old Italian national living in the Melbourne CBD - also appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, charged with trafficking offences.
They were remanded to appear before the court on June 20. None of them applied for bail.
Police will allege the group combined two drugs, 4-flouroamphetamine (4-FA) and 25C-NBOMe, for onselling as MDMA.
Those drugs are linked to three deaths of revellers in Melbourne in December and January, overdoses on the Gold Coast during schoolies, and others in Perth and Canberra, police say.
A months-long investigation uncovered the group was part of a syndicate linked to Vietnam and Hong Kong, importing a combined 117 kilogram of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA, Detective Senior Constable Tim Norris told the court.
The group was also involved in distribution of pseudoephedrine and the manufacturing of methamphetamine in Melbourne homes, he said.
A shipment of pseudoephedrine, destined for Mr Ostojic's Sunshine tofu factory, was intercepted during the investigation, Detective Senior Constable Norris said.
Members of the syndicate also met with Hells Angels bikie members in Perth, he said.
The court also heard Kings Park woman Huong Nguyen, 26, was arrested at Southern Cross Station in December, allegedly carrying 15kg of the 4-FA 25C-NBOMe combination in a suitcase.
She has been remanded in custody since her arrest.
A seventh person, Chinh Khiem, 36, was arrested in Sydney on Monday and will appear in court on Tuesday for extradition to Victoria.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/al...28-gun9dl.html
