Alleged Sydney drug lord Hussein Chamas complains about NT watch house ahead of NSW extradition

An alleged Sydney fugitive who was prepared to spend days hiding on a boat has complained about conditions in the Northern Territory’s watch house cells.

An alleged meth smuggling Sydney fugitive said he would rather face the full justice of the New South Wales courts than spend another night in a Territory cell.

Hussein Chamas appeared in Darwin Local Court on Thursday, five days after his dramatic arrest on the Arafura Sea off the Northern Territory coast on Sunday, January 26.

Mr Chamas was one of more than 390 people netted in the Operation Ironside in July 2023, a sting operation that intercepted millions of encrypted messages allegedly involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and other organised crime.

The 35-year-old was charged with conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, drug trafficking and illegally possessing a firearm.

The AFP identified Hussein Chamas, 35, as part of Operation Ironside and he is alleged to be a member of a syndicate which used the ANOM platform to import illicit drugs into Australia. An arrest warrant was issued for Hussein Chamas after he failed to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on January 20, 2025. Picture: AFP

Mr Chamas was granted bail to the Connect Global rehabilitation facility, 200km north of Sydney, and was expected to return to Downing Centre Local Court on January 20.

It was only when Chamas failed to rock up to his court hearing that authorities realised the alleged drug smuggler was on the run.

The Sydney man allegedly used fake court paperwork to fool security guards at the rehabilitation facility, allowing him to escape on January 8.

Authorities arrest fugitive Hussein Chamas and two other people aboard a yacht in the Arafura Sea, off the NT coast, on January 26, 2025. Picture: AFP

Eighteen days later a man matching Mr Chamas’s description was spotted on East Woody Beach, Nhulunbuy — 4000km from his bail address.

A yacht was intercepted off the Northern Territory coast by Australian Federal Police and Australian Marine Border Command squads on Sunday, with Chamas arrested alongside a 51-year-old Dutch man and 42-year-old United Kingdom woman.

Authorities arrest fugitive Hussein Chamas and two other people aboard a yacht in the Arafura Sea, off the NT coast, on January 26, 2025. Picture: AFP

Following their arrest the trio were taken 700km west to Darwin, where they have been held in the Palmerston watch house for more than 48-hours waiting for their first court appearance.

On Thursday Chamas appeared before Judge Elizabeth Morris, still dressed in the same Nike T-shirt and shorts he was arrested in.

The alleged drug lord told the judge he did not oppose returning to NSW, but objected to returning to the cells at the Palmerston watch house.

“Your honour there’s no phone calls in the watch house at all,” Mr Chamas said.

“No toothbrush, no shower, no nothing.”

“Isn’t it a right for me to have hygiene, a shower, a toothbrush and to have a welfare call?

“I haven’t had any of that for the last three, four days.”

Hussein Chamas will return to the Downing Centre in Sydney. Picture: Christian Gilles / NCA NewsWire

While acknowledging the notorious conditions in the Territory watch houses, Ms Morris said she only had power to authorise his extradition to NSW.

“I can understand that makes your situation very difficult, as a court there’s nothing I can do about that,” she said.

Ms Morris said Chamas would be flown to NSW in the custody of Australian Federal Police on Tuesday, meaning he will spend the next five days in the cells.

He is expected to appear in a Downing Centre Local Court on February 6.

Corrections data said as of Thursday morning there were 130 prisoners held in the Palmerston watch house — not including those in police custody — despite only being designed with a safe cell capacity for 100 people.

There were 2645 Territorians locked in a cell on Thursday, more than 1 per cent of the entire population.

51-year-old Dutch citizen Thomas Goertz was arrested and charged with people smuggling on Sunday January 26 after allegedly helping Sydney fugitive Hussein Chamas escape Australia on a yacht off Nhulunbuy, in the Northern Territory.

His alleged co-accused, Thomas Goertz and Jade Sui Ying Ormiston also appeared before Ms Morris on Thursday, both charged with people smuggling.

Mr Goertz, whose Instagram bio says he was a “adventurer, hedonist, anti-authoritarian” sailor, was alleged to be more seriously involved in the people smuggling incident than Ms Ormiston.

Their defence lawyer Brooke Houen asked for more time to prepare a bail plan for both her clients, as they were not Australian citizens.

Their matters were adjourned to February 7.

Originally published as Alleged Sydney drug lord Hussein Chamas complains about NT watch house ahead of NSW extradition