A senior leader of the notorious Coconut Cartel has been shot dead in Vietnam, as harrowing footage of his final moments alive emerged.

Lorenzo Lemalu, 24, a former associate of the Alameddine crime family, was ambushed  with bullets outside a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday night.

Another Coconut Cartel associate was also reportedly wounded during the incident.

Footage posted online showed Lemalu standing on a footpath along a busy dining strip before he was gunned down.

As shocked diners ran for cover, he fell onto the road but managed to crawl to the footpath.

He was then dragged into a restaurant by a bystander to get help.

Another man was seen crouching down next to Lemalu’s bloodied body, trying to render first aid while speaking to staff.

Shocked bystanders were seen watching on metres away.

Footage shows a dying Lorenzo Lemalu being dragged into a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City moment after he was shot
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Footage shows a dying Lorenzo Lemalu being dragged into a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City moment after he was shot

Lorenzo Lemalu was shot dead outside a restaurant in Vietnam on Thursday night
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Lorenzo Lemalu was shot dead outside a restaurant in Vietnam on Thursday night

Other video shows a second injured man lying on the ground nearby.

Lemalu was a former member of Proper 60, a western Sydney-based gang linked to the Alameddines led by Ali Younes aka Ay Huncho and had the group’s name tattooed across his stomach.

It’s understood Lemalu then fell out with the Alameddines and began directing the Coconut Cartel’s activities from South-East Asia some time after fleeing Australia four years ago.

The Coconut Cartel is a breakaway gang locked in an underworld crime feud with the Alameddines.

Photos emerged online last November of Lemalu eating a golden-leafed steak in Dubai, and was pictured in Albania just last month.

Messages obtained by SCN Worldstar and reportedly sent by members of the Alameddine network suggest they claimed credit for the execution.

‘That’s what happens when Coconuts try (and) fight the people that made them,’ a message read.

But not everyone believes the execution is linked with the Sydney gangland wars, in the wake of a series of firebombings and drive-by shootings across the city in recent months.

Lemalu was a senior leader with Coconut Cartel after falling out with the Alameddines
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Lemalu was a senior leader with Coconut Cartel after falling out with the Alameddines

Lorenzo Lemalu was shot multiple times and could not be revived
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Lorenzo Lemalu was shot multiple times and could not be revived

‘The big rumour is they ripped off some Albanians and that’s why he was killed,’ a gangster living overseas told the Daily Telegraph.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it is aware of reports that an Australian has died in Vietnam and is seeking confirmation from local authorities.

Daily Mail does not suggest any wrongdoing by the Alameddines or Ali Younes.

There are grave fears the killing was the latest chapter in Sydney’s ongoing gang wars and could spark revenge attacks.

The latest execution happened just two nights after Alai Ahio, 28, a former associate of notorious rap group OneFour, was shot dead in what police described as a targeted attack in south-west Sydney.

He was at a Canley Heights home with four other men when they were ambushed by at least two attackers armed with guns and knives on Tuesday night.

Lemalu was pictured enjoying a gold-leafed steak in Dubai last November
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Lemalu was pictured enjoying a gold-leafed steak in Dubai last November

He was driven to Liverpool Hospital, where he died a short time later.

Four other men were also injured but survived.

The attackers fled the scene in a white SUV and remain on the run.