UK actress charged with importing meth worth almost A$300m into Australia

A British actress, who appeared in an Eastenders spin-off and a Jason Statham movie, has been charged with allegedly trying to smuggle more than 300kg of meth into Australia from West Africa.

Emaa Hussen, 34, appeared in a Sydney court on Thursday after she was charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine into Australia. The maximum penalty is life in prison.

Police allege Hussen, along with a couple from South Australia, tried to import 320kg of meth hidden in bags of charcoal in shipping containers from Ghana. The drugs had an estimated street value of A$296m (US$208m; £157m).

Hussen was refused bail in an earlier court decision and due back in court in August.

Hussen played the character Naz in an Eastenders spin-off E20 which first aired in 2010. She was also in Jason Statham's 2013 action thriller Hummingbird, which was released in the US as Redemption.

Australian police launched an investigation in April after border authorities detected anomalies in two shipping containers that had arrived at Sydney's Port Botany from Ghana.

Authorities found a "white crystalised substance" after they x-rayed the contents of the containers, which were listed as bags of charcoal. Further testing confirmed it was meth.

Police removed the drugs from the shipment before it was delivered to a storage facility in Girraween in Sydney's western suburbs.

Police allege that Hussen went to the facility and supervised as several men unpacked the container.

They loaded several bags into a car before driving to a house in Blacktown, where police later arrested Hussen. Police also seized electronic devices and a notebook.

As part of the investigations, police also 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.

"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," Det Acting Supt Trevor Robinson from the Australian Federal Police said.

Australian Border Force Supt Jared Leighton praised his officers for their efforts.

"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".