A man who managed to stumble into a Brisbane service station after being shot

A man who managed to stumble into a Brisbane service station after being shot in the head and subsequently buried alive is believed to be one of three victims linked to a suspected "contract crew," according to police.

This group is also implicated in the murder of a Sydney man and the brutal severing of another man's ear. The investigation surrounding the death of 32-year-old Rich "Dylan" Choup from Sydney, who police state fell out of favor with his drug syndicate bosses, revealed his body in a southern Sydney bushland area last August. This inquiry, known as Strike Force Hallett, uncovered a violent six-day crime spree that spanned across New South Wales and Queensland.

Police have released CCTV footage from three separate incidents associated with this violent spree and are urging the public to provide information to help identify a person of interest visible in the footage. Authorities suspect that all three crimes are connected to a drug trafficking syndicate based in Victoria, having established links between this group, Choup, and another man who was kidnapped in southwestern Sydney. The motive behind the attack on the third victim, who was buried alive in Queensland after being shot, remains unclear, and there is currently no evidence connecting him to the syndicate's illicit activities. In their ongoing investigation, detectives are seeking information on five individuals captured on CCTV footage related to these violent incidents. Detective Superintendent Joseph Doueihi stated at a news conference on Monday, "It is highly likely that these events are linked to an internal issue within the Melbourne-based drug trafficking syndicate," adding that Victoria Police is also actively investigating these connections.

"The nature of these disputes remains uncertain; they could involve stolen drugs or missing money. If I had to make a guess, that would likely be the case." In one of the first incidents, a 31-year-old man was kidnapped and tortured on July 19 of the previous year in southwestern Sydney before being released later that same day, according to police statements.