Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

A British actress, who previously appeared in an EastEnders spin-off and a Jason Statham film, has been charged in Australia over an alleged attempt to smuggle 320kg of methamphetamine into the country from West Africa, AzerNEWS reports, citing BBC.

Emaa Hussen, 34, appeared in a Sydney court on Thursday after being charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine. Under Australian law, the offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Police allege that Hussen, together with a couple from South Australia, tried to conceal the drugs inside bags of charcoal shipped in containers from Ghana. The estimated street value of the seized meth is around A$296 million (about US$208 million / £157 million), making it one of the larger alleged import attempts intercepted in recent years.

Hussen, who played the character Naz in the EastEnders spin-off E20 (2010) and also appeared in Jason Statham’s 2013 action thriller Hummingbird (released in the US as Redemption), was previously denied bail and is due to return to court in August.

The investigation began in April after Australian Border Force officers flagged irregularities in two shipping containers arriving at Sydney’s Port Botany from Ghana. When the containers were X-rayed, authorities detected a suspicious white crystallised substance hidden among declared charcoal shipments. Subsequent testing confirmed it was methamphetamine.

Police intercepted the shipment before it reached a storage facility in Girraween, in western Sydney, preventing the drugs from entering the distribution network.

One notable detail in the case is the method of concealment: using bulk agricultural-style cargo such as charcoal has become a known tactic in international smuggling operations, as it can mask both smell and density differences during routine scanning. Authorities say such cases have increased as criminal networks attempt to exploit global trade routes and high-volume container shipping.