Fugitive and alleged drug trafficker captured in dramatic arrest

A man accused of drug trafficking who was allegedly on the run has been arrested in a remote section of Australia.

An alleged Sydney drug trafficker who is accused of going on the run has been caught in a remote section of the Northern Territory, a court has been told.

An arrest warrant was last week issued for Hussein Chamas’ arrest after he failed to appear inside a Sydney court.

The 35-year-old was due to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on January 20 but did not attend.

He was initially arrested in July 2023 during the Australian Federal Police-led Operation Ironside and is alleged to have been a member of a crime group that used the ANOM encrypted platform to import drugs into Australia.

He was due to face court on separate charges on Tuesday, with his barrister Carolyn Davenport SC telling the court that he had been rearrested.

Hussein Chamas has been arrested. Picture: AFP/Supplied

Chamas in 2021. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

“There have been some developments,” Ms Davenport told the court.

The court was told Chamas had been arrested in the Gove Peninsula, the remote northeastern corner of Arnhem Land.

He was due to face a hearing in the Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday on charges of acquiring a firearm subject to a prohibition order and possessing a prohibited drug.

He was initially arrested in 2023 as he attempted to leave Australia and charged with one count each of conspiracy to import a border-controlled drug, trafficking a commercial quantity of a controlled drug and breaching a firearm prohibition order.

He was granted bail by the Supreme Court that was conditional on him living at the Connect Global rehabilitation centre at Swan Bay, north of Newcastle.

Last year he pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

He is alleged to have used forged Supreme Court documents to walk out of the rehabilitation centre in early January.

He will now appear in court again later this week.