A drug cook was allegedly bashed, gagged and his body dumped after a south-west Sydney crime syndicate learned he was ripping off drugs, it will be alleged.
Those responsible for Son Than Nguyen's death also allegedly murdered his girlfriend, who was brought along to a fatal meeting over the drug dispute.
Homicide detectives on Monday afternoon arrested Asian crime figure and hired muscle, 25-year-old Kevin Ly, over the alleged murders in 2013.
Mr Ly appeared in briefly in Fairfield Local Court on Tuesday wearing a grey zip-up hoodie and handcuffs.
Police prosecutor Clint Nasr asked for a longer than usual period of time to compile a brief of evidence saying it was an unusually complicated investigation.
Mr Nguyen's body was found wrapped in a white sheet and dumped on Antwerp St in Bankstown on April 10, 2013.
Mr Nguyen, 39, had been bashed, his hands cable tied and masking tape placed across his mouth.
Several months later, two men repairing a fence on a block near Flynn Avenue in West Hoxton came across Mr Nguyen's girlfriend's decomposing body.
Thi Kim Lien Do, 35, had also been bound and her body wrapped in a sheet.
Ms Do had been reported missing by a concerned family member months earlier after her boyfriend's body was found.
The two homicide cases were linked when detectives ascertained they had been in a relationship and were last seen together in April 2013.
They now believe Ms Do and Mr Nguyen were killed together before their bodies were dumped separately.
Mr Ly is well-known to police and in Asian crime circles. It is alleged he was acting as the muscle for others in the drug syndicate when he allegedly killed Mr Nguyen and Ms Do.
Police say more arrests are likely.
Police will allege in court Mr Nguyen had been cooking methamphetamine for a crime syndicate in Sydney's south-west when others involved in the drug network grew concerned that he was ripping them off.
Syndicate members summoned Mr Nguyen to a Canley Vale property but Mr Nguyen made the fatal decision to take his girlfriend with him.
Homicide Squad commander Detective Superintendent Mick Willing said it was possible that Ms Do was killed because "she may well have been in the wrong place at the wrong time".
"Certainly our information is that Mr Nguyen was involved in a dispute with a group, which has led to his death over drugs," he said on Tuesday.
"We will be alleging that he [Mr Nguyen] was lured to a residence in Canley Vale in relation to a drug dispute and that's where the 25-year-old male [allegedly] beat both Mr Nguyen and Ms Do to death before obviously disposing of their bodies."
Mr Nguyen was tied up, bashed and strangled to death before his girlfriend suffered a similar fate.
