Carolina Funa to sue over arrest in major Sydney police operation

Carolina Funa was arrested in a heavily armed dawn raid over a major crime syndicate allegedly run by estern Sydney “Mr Big” Bilal Haouchar. Now she is suing after a court was told police got the wrong person.

A woman arrested in a take-down of an alleged international drug syndicate – only for her charges to be dropped after a court was told that the police got the wrong person – is now preparing to sue the state.

Carolina Josephine Funa spent two days in jail with her bail refused after being dramatically arrested at 5.10am on November 14 when armed police raided her Western Sydney home.

She was charged with 11 criminal offences, including commercial drug supply, and was accused of taking part in an international syndicate run by alleged Western Sydney “Mr Big” Bilal Haouchar.

Bilal Haouchar. Picture: Facebook

Bilal Haouchar. Picture: NSW Police

According to police documents, which said the case against Ms Funa was “overwhelming”, investigators accused her of transporting cocaine, pseudoephedrine, guns and cash around Sydney in a Hyundai iLoad van that had a secret compartment on behalf of the alleged syndicate.

Ms Funa’s partner, Charlton Schaafhausen, was also charged but he remains before the court. He is yet to enter a plea to 23 charges that include conspiracy to murder and supplying a commercial quantity of illegal drugs.

Items seized by Strike Force Tromperie in their efforts to dismantle the alleged international crime syndicate.

When Ms Funa applied for bail two days after her arrest, her lawyer Abdul Saddik argued police had the wrong woman and she had been mistaken for another person who had been under police surveillance during the investigation.

The case against Ms Funa continued until February when prosecutors withdrew all 11 charges. In April, Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim ordered the state to pay Ms Funa’s legal costs of $8470.

Items seized by Strike Force Tromperie in their efforts to dismantle the alleged international crime syndicate.

Items seized by Strike Force Tromperie in their efforts to dismantle the alleged international crime syndicate.

This week, Mr Saddik confirmed a statement of claim is being drafted and Ms Funa intends to sue the state.

Ms Funa was arrested as part of a major police operation, known as Strike Force Tromperie that dismantled Haouchar’s alleged syndicate and resulted in his arrest in a Lebanon casino.

The long-running investigation burst the bubble on the assumption that Haouchar, a former Western Sydney resident, was untouchable after he managed to fly under the radar for about a decade.

Investigators arrested 28 people and seized the alleged proceeds of crime, which included a Lamborghini, cash, weapons and at least two tonnes of drugs.

Several undercover operatives were deployed.

The operation allegedly uncovered that syndicate members had been involved in murder, kidnapping, drug and gun sales and laundering the proceeds of crime, court documents said.

In Ms Funa’s case, an undercover operative infiltrated a chat group on the encrypted app Threema and began communicating with a number of people.

This included Schaafhausen.

Police found the iLoad van at Holsworthy on November 14 and discovered the secret compartment was holding 2kg of cocaine, two pistols, a rifle and ammunition.

The matter continues.

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