A murdered man and a torture victim were “employees” of a Melbourne drug syndicate linked to a series of violent crimes across several days last year in Sydney and Queensland, police say.
Investigators believe a “contract crew” may be linked to three incidents, including a murder, an attempted murder, and a kidnapping in July last year.
On Friday, July 19, 2024, a 31-year-old man was kidnapped from south-west Sydney.
The kidnappers tortured the man and cut off part of his ear before releasing him later the same day.
The incident was not reported to police, but detectives carried out a crime scene warrant on Thursday, October 10 last year, at a Canley Vale property where the man was believed to have been held.
Officers seized a box cutter for forensic analysis.
Investigators have now released CCTV of two cars, a dark Audi SQ2 and a white Volkswagen Golf, travelling together at the intersection of Freeman Avenue and Sackville Street in Canley Vale, around the time of the incident.
Both cars were stolen, and both had cloned plates, NSW Police Detective Superintendent Joseph Doueihi said.
The Audi was found burnt out in Granville in August, Doueihi said. It’s believed the same car was also used in the other incidents the crew is linked to.
In a second incident on Saturday, July 21, a man who was covered in dirt and suffering a gunshot wound entered a service station on Tamborine Street in Jimboomba, south of Brisbane.
He asked the staff to not call emergency services, but then collapsed, prompting them to seek help.
The 23-year-old man was taken to hospital, where it was found he had been shot through the eye and had a bullet lodged in his brain.
Police believe the man was shot and buried, with those responsible likely unaware he had crawled out of his shallow grave.
Doueihi said the man’s survival was a “miracle”.
Police have now released CCTV of a white Hyundai Getz seen at a roadhouse in Nambucca on the NSW Mid North Coast at about 5.30am on Saturday, July 20, 2024, the day before the man entered the Jimboomba servo.
Four male passengers are also seen. One is believed to be the victim of the attempted murder.
Doueihi said the man had been lured to Queensland without any knowledge of what was intended.
In a third incident, at about 4.40pm on Saturday, August 31, 2024, police were called to bushland off Heathcote Road at Lucas Heights in Sydney’s south, after trail bike riders discovered human remains.
The remains were confirmed to be those of Rich “Dylan” Choup, a 32-year-old man reported missing on Monday, July 29, 2024.
Choup had been fatally shot and the top of his right ear had been severed.
“Unfortunately, it’s been seen quite often now that part of (the Melbourne syndicate’s) torturing technique is to sever ears and fingers and toes off of people they take hostage, in order to try to have them give them the information that they want,” Doueihi said.
Choup was last seen at about 6.10pm on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Cabramatta, where he told friends he had a meeting and asked them to wait nearby.
At about 6.25pm, CCTV showed Choup meeting with a man on Railway Parade. The other man appeared to reprimand and slap him.
Both men were then seen walking towards a grey Audi SQ2.
Police have also released CCTV of a white Lexus and white Audi RS3.
Two men seen on CCTV moving the cars before and after Choup’s disappearance, are also of interest to police.
“I can tell you that we believe that the persons involved are common to all three incidents,” Doueihi said.
“Not every person depicted on the CCTV is involved in every matter. They are common across those matters.”
Doueihi said police were not asserting that the men depicted in the CCTV footage were directly involved in the violent offending, but that they were believed to have information that could help police in their investigation.
He said police believed Choup was an “employee” of a Melbourne drug syndicate, but the exact motive behind his murder was unknown.
The kidnapping and torture of the first man was also believed to be linked to the syndicate’s activity, while the motive for the attempted murder in Queensland had not yet been firmly established.
Doueihi said the surviving victims were not fully cooperating with police but had spoken with investigators to an extent.
Anybody with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online.
