Alleged drug kingpin Guy Habkouk arrest at Sydney airport over alleged heroin import

The alleged mastermind behind one of Australia’s largest heroin busts has been taken into custody during a dramatic arrest at a busy airport.

Guy Habkouk, 35, was detained by Australian Federal Police at Sydney International Airport on Saturday morning for orchestrating the alleged importation of 350kg of heroin in December 2020.

The shipment was one of the largest in Australian history and the drugs have an estimated street value of over $1 million.

The Sydney man lived in Turkey before being caught by local police in January.

Police will allege that the Sydney man had extensive ties to transnational organized crime groups, which helped facilitate these importations.

At the time of the alleged heroin seizure, authorities believed that Mr Habkouk lived in Thailand.

He has been charged with importing a commercial quantity of drugs at the border, in violation of Section 307.1 of the 1995 Penal Code, an offense carrying the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

He will appear before the Parramatta local court on Sunday morning.

AFP Transnational Operations commander Richard Chin said the man allegedly had “extensive ties” to transnational organized crime groups.

“He played an important orchestrating role in this import, which involved a very large amount of heroin,” said Commander Chin.

The drugs were reportedly concealed in two construction mixers imported from Kuala Lumpur before being delivered to a company in northwestern Sydney.

Another man, believed to be the man’s brother, was arrested and taken to court in September last year.