Three years ago, a guy who was shot and killed in the middle of a Sydney street was freed from prison after doing time for attempting to bring more than $1 million worth of cocaine into the city.
At two in the morning on Thursday, Ferenc Stemler, also known as David, was shot and killed in Canterbury.
The 28-year-old passed away at the site despite the efforts of the paramedics.
With five individuals shot in as many days, police believe Sydney’s underground drug battle is to blame for the latest fatality, Stemler.
In 2015, Stemler received a sentence of nearly eight years in prison for his role in a scheme to bring more than $1 million worth of cocaine into Sydney.
2015 saw the arrival in Sydney of a shipment from the US labeled as toner cartridges, however the shipment really included over 2kg of cocaine.
On behalf of Stemler, the box was supposed to be delivered to his friend, but Australian Federal Police intercepted it, which started the inquiry.
When requested to pick up the box from his friend’s house on behalf of someone else, he told police at the time.
Stemler was eventually charged with attempting to bring in a marketable quantity of a substance that was illegally brought across international borders.
Stemler explained to the judge during the proceedings how he started using drugs at the age of 19, but after being rejected by the army, he became “lost and depressed” and started abusing more potent drugs.
He stated that he was purchasing the cocaine to pay off a debt.
However, the judge determined that despite the “massive effect on his life” that not being accepted into the army had on him, he was participating in the importation conspiracy, and his descent into drug addiction was no match for the crimes he was facing.
The decision at the time stated, “The sentencing judge observed that the applicant had clearly prior knowledge of the expected arrival of the package, and had organized for the delivery driver to deliver it, using public telephones as part of a deliberate strategy to avoid detection.”
The size of the cocaine possession attempt was substantial.
Stemler was ultimately given a seven-year, nine-month term.
After two years, he was granted release on the condition that he would change his ways.
According to Mark News, yesterday Stemler would appear in Bankstown Court the next year to defend himself against narcotics accusations.
Police now suspect that Stemler was shot and died just meters from his front door as a result of a cocaine deal gone awry.
Today marked the beginning of the new taskforce that the police established to look into the city’s escalating gun crime.
Police declared yesterday that they think the most recent five shootings, beginning with the public execution of high-level bikie Alen Moradian in Bondi Junction, are connected in some way to the city’s narcotics trade.
Deputy Commissioner David Hudson described the methods used to perpetrate the crimes as having “common traits and modus operandi.”
Police are still looking for the person or people who shot Stemler.
Police believe they are seeking for two guys who fled the area quickly and may have set fire to two getaway vehicles.
