Former ‘EastEnders’ actress charged over alleged A$296m meth plot in Australia

SYDNEY, June 19 — A British actress who once appeared in an EastEnders spin-off and alongside Jason Statham is facing serious drug trafficking charges in Australia after authorities alleged she was involved in an attempt to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine into the country.

According to the BBC, Emaa Hussen, 34, appeared before a Sydney court yesterday after being charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine into Australia. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Police allege Hussen worked with a couple from South Australia in a scheme to import 320kg of methamphetamine concealed inside bags of charcoal shipped from Ghana. Authorities estimate the seized drugs had a street value of A$296 million (RM860 million).

Hussen was previously known to television audiences for playing Naz in E20, the EastEnders spin-off that debuted in 2010. She also appeared in Jason Statham’s 2013 action thriller Hummingbird, released in the United States under the title Redemption.

The case stems from an investigation launched in April after Australian border officials detected irregularities in two shipping containers that arrived at Sydney’s Port Botany from Ghana.

Authorities said X-ray scans of containers declared as carrying charcoal uncovered a “white crystalised substance”, which subsequent testing confirmed was methamphetamine.

Investigators removed the drugs before allowing the shipment to continue to a storage facility in Girraween, in Sydney’s western suburbs, as part of a controlled operation.

Police allege Hussen later attended the facility and supervised several men as they unpacked the container. Several bags were then loaded into a vehicle before being transported to a house in Blacktown, where officers arrested Hussen. Electronic devices and a notebook were also seized during the operation.

As part of the wider investigation, police also arrested a 30-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man in Adelaide. They have been charged with allegedly using false identities to rent the Sydney storage units where the shipment was delivered.

Hussen was refused bail at an earlier court hearing and is scheduled to return to court in August.

“The seizure of these drugs — with an estimated street value of A$296 million — has prevented a potential 3.2 million deals from reaching Australian streets,” Det Acting Supt Trevor Robinson of the Australian Federal Police said.

Australian Border Force Supt Jared Leighton also praised officers involved in the investigation.

“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”.