A British actress who appeared in an EastEnders spin-off and a Jason Statham film is facing life in prison after being charged with trying to smuggle 320kg of methamphetamine into Australia – the drugs hidden in bags of charcoal and valued at almost A$300m.
Emaa Hussen, 34, was arrested after police allege she supervised the unpacking of a shipping container at a storage facility in Girraween, in Sydney’s western suburbs. Officers had earlier X-rayed two containers that arrived at Port Botany from Ghana and discovered a “white crystalised substance” inside the bags, which later tested positive for meth.
“Former EastEnders actress Emaa Hussen faces life in jail for allegedly smuggling 320kg of meth in charcoal bags.”
The drugs had an estimated street value of A$296m (US$208m; £157m). Det Acting Supt Trevor Robinson of the Australian Federal Police said: “The seizure of these drugs – with an estimated street value of $296 million – has prevented a potential 3.2 million deals from reaching Australian streets.”
Hussen played the character Naz Mehmet in E20, an EastEnders spin-off that first aired in 2010. She also appeared in the 2013 Jason Statham action thriller Hummingbird, released in the US as Redemption.
Police allege that after the drugs were removed by authorities, the shipment was delivered to the storage unit. Hussen went to the facility and supervised as several men unpacked the container, loading bags into a car before driving to a house in Blacktown, where she was later arrested. Officers also seized electronic devices and a notebook.
In a separate investigation, police arrested and charged a woman, 30, and a man, 32, in the South Australian capital of Adelaide for allegedly using false identities to rent the storage units in Sydney where the drugs were delivered.
Hussen appeared in a Sydney court on Thursday and was refused bail. She is due back in court in August.
Australian Border Force Supt Jared Leighton praised his officers, saying: “Criminal syndicates will go to great lengths to disguise illicit drugs, including embedding them in everyday goods like charcoal, but our highly skilled officers are trained to see beyond these attempts.”
The maximum penalty for attempting to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine into Australia is life in prison.