Emaa Hussen appeared in EastEnders: E20, a spin-off from the BBC soap opera – BBC
A British actress who appeared in an EastEnders spin-off has been accused of trying to smuggle £150m-worth of methamphetamine into Australia.
Emaa Hussen has been charged along with a couple from Adelaide with trying to import 320kg of the drug from West Africa, hidden in bags of charcoal.
The actress is best known as Naz in the EastEnders spin-off E20, made a decade ago.
The drugs had an estimated street value of 296 million Australian dollars (£157m). Ms Hussen, who appeared in Hummingbird, a Hollywood movie starring British action hero Jason Statham, could face life imprisonment.
Australian police broke up the alleged smuggling plot when they discovered the drugs in shipping containers in Port Botany in New South Wales.
The amphetamine was allegedly shipped from Ghana, according to The Sun.
Ms Hussen is reportedly accused of unpacking the drugs alongside other suspects before driving to a location in the Sydney suburb of Blacktown, where police then arrested her.
The 320kg of methamphetamine has an estimated street value of £145m – Australian Federal Police
Local law enforcement said an Adelaide-based couple in their 30s were also charged for their alleged involvement in the venture. The pair are due to appear in court in September.
Officers tailed the shipment as it was taken from Port Botany and delivered to a storage facility in Girraween in Sydney’s western suburbs.
Ms Hussen is accused of supervising the unloading of the drugs by several men. She was arrested in Blacktown.
When police subjected the sacks of charcoal to X-ray examination they found a “white crystallised substance” that turned out to be methamphetamine. Officers found 32 sacks in the house where Ms Hussen was arrested.
Police said the haul could have led to 3.2 million drug deals – Australian Federal Police handout
Ms Hussen appeared in a courtroom in Sydney on Thursday. She has been charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of amphetamine into Australia.
She was remanded in custody and will remain in prison until her next court appearance, scheduled for August.
Police also arrested and charged a 32-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman in Adelaide for allegedly using false identities to rent the storage facility in Sydney to which the drugs were delivered.
“The seizure of these drugs – with an estimated street value of A$296m – has prevented a potential 3.2 million deals from reaching Australian streets,” said Acting Det Supt Trevor Robinson from the Australian Federal Police.