Got greedy: How a plot to rip off dead man’s mum undid killer Asian cartel

Chong Kai “Jacky” Wong helped set up the drug plantation on a farm in western NSW. In late 2020 he was killed by his fellow cartel members. The extortion plot that followed proved their undoing.

A ruthless Asian crime gang who murdered one of their own on a remote cannabis farm outside of Bathurst came unstuck when they got greedy and tried to extort $50,000 from the dead man’s family.

Chong Kai “Jacky” Wong had helped to set up the drug plantation on a farm in Killongbutta, in western NSW, installing the greenhouses and even investing $10,000 of his own money.

But on December 28, 2020, the Malaysian national was killed by his fellow cartel members.

Senior police called Mr Wong’s death “particularly gruesome”, but The Daily Telegraph can today reveal the full shocking details of how it transpired, including the cruel WhatsApp and Facebook messages sent by members of the gang to his family attempting to extort money in exchange for information about his whereabouts.

As they were doing this, Mr Wong’s body was lying in a shallow grave on the farm.

Chong Kai ‘Jacky’ Wong (pictured) was murdered by members of his own drug cartel and buried in a shallow grave on a remote farm outside Bathurst in 2020. Picture: NSW Police

The rural property in Killongbutta, about 40km northwest of Bathurst, where Mr Wong was murdered. Picture: NSW Police

The revelations about Mr Wong’s death come after Yilin Liu pleaded guilty to his murder, and Youzong Chen and Junqi Huang to lesser offences, over the killing.

After being arrested by police, Huang agreed to assist detectives in their investigation and provided them with a detailed statement about the events that led up to, and followed, Mr Wong’s death.

Huang told how he had been brought into the drug cartel by Mr Wong with the promise of a major payday.

He initially began as a driver, taking the wheel of tractors and other farm machinery, before moving on to become a “cook” and later assisting to nurture cannabis plants as they grew up to two-metres tall.

But one night, as he stood downstairs in the farm house on Killongbutta Rd, above him he could hear Mr Wong in discussion with Liu.

“This is the order from the boss, don’t come back to me, come to the boss,” Liu told Mr Wong.

Detectives attached to Strike Force Heighway dig up Mr Wong’s remains in 2022. Picture: NSW Police

The next thing Huang heard was Mr Wong scream and then a struggle, before he went upstairs to find his colleague’s lifeless body lying on a bed surrounded by the other men.

“You work for me now,” Liu told Huang.

Court documents detail Huang’s recollection of what happened next, as he was told to go and fetch a tractor, while Liu and another man carried Mr Wong’s body downstairs.

“One was holding his arms and one his legs, I do not remember which. They asked me to help carry [Mr Wong] as well but I just could not do it. [Liu] said ‘drive the tractor here’,” Huang told police.

“I was too afraid to leave the farm or do anything … I couldn’t leave. I was scared of them and the boss; they had all my details, they recorded my Driver’s Licence and my phone.”

Huang, Liu and the other man then drove Mr Wong’s body down to a creek on the farm, where they dug a hole two metres wide and three or four metres deep, and dumped him inside.

Later, back at the farmhouse, Liu told Huang: “Don’t ever talk about this again, this is from the boss”.

Mr Wong had last spoken to his mum in the 24 hours before police believe he was killed.

Mr Wong was responsible for growing cannabis plants in greenhouses before his death. Picture: NSW Police

Yilin Liu, Youzong Chen and Junqi Huang have all pleaded guilty over their varying involvement in Mr Wong’s murder and the drug cartel operations. Picture: NSW Police

Some six months later, in July 2021, a family friend of the Wong family who lived in Western Australia put up a missing person’s post on Facebook which was widely shared.

Huang saw this himself and decided to message the friend, telling how he had been growing cannabis with Mr Wong and would tell them what happened to him in exchange for $50,000.

Weeks later Huang messaged Mr Wong’s mother directly on WhatsApp, saying her son was “gone” and again asking for $50,000 in exchange for information.

“He is no longer here … I saw where they buried him,” Huang said.

Mr Wong’s family friend soon informed WA Police about the gang member claiming to have information, and an undercover officer took over the discussion, working with NSW Police.

After getting information that led them to the Killongbutta farm, in early 2022 detectives attached to Strike Force Heighway arrested Huang, Chen and Liu.

Weeks later they dug up the creek and found Mr Wong’s remains.

Police dig up the shallow grave where Mr Wong was buried. Picture: NSW Police

Huang was sentenced to a minimum three years and four months in jail in the Supreme Court last week after pleading guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder and obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

Chen was sentenced to a minimum two years and two months jail in the District Court last year after pleading guilty to conceal a serious indictable offence, participating in a criminal group and multiple drug-related charges.

Liu pleaded guilty to Mr Wong’s murder last September and will be sentenced in the Supreme Court on June 11.

Originally published as Got greedy: How a plot to rip off dead man’s mum undid killer Asian cartel