Meet the man who allegedly had a BILLION dollars of cocaine in his faded brick apartment when he was arrested because police found four men dressed in black 'waiting to kidnap him'
An accused cocaine baron at the center of a major bust that reportedly saw the seizure of $1 billion worth of drugs was the target of a foiled kidnapping plot.
Police sent to an apartment building on Blaxland Street in Ryde, northwest Sydney, after reports of a burglary got more than they bargained for when they reportedly discovered 722kg of cocaine in an Airbnb rental on Monday.
Officers are said to have found four men dressed all in black in a Toyota Yaris in the underground car park just after 6am, armed with a 60cm crowbar, gloves, a meat cleaver, a knife, a box cutter, flashing light bars and zip ties.
Police allege the four men broke into the unit complex with the intention of stealing the cocaine and kidnapping the man who rented the apartment upstairs.
After identifying the intended victim of the alleged kidnapping scheme, officers returned to execute a search warrant on the unit block at 10:45 p.m.
Hussein Hamed Habeeb, a 24-year-old Melbourne man, was reportedly trying to escape from a balcony when police knocked on his door.
Hussein Hamed Habeeb (pictured) was arrested after police allegedly discovered dozens of one-kilo blocks of cocaine in a Ryde apartment he was renting
Police returned to the Ryde apartment at 10.45pm on Monday to execute a search warrant
He was arrested shortly after police reportedly discovered dozens of kilos of cocaine packed in black duffel bags and bedroom closets in the faded brick apartment.
Habeeb was charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
'That's a big shock. He was so sweet,” one of his neighbors said 9News.
Moumin Hamouda, 23, Bilal Gheniem, 19, Liam Goodhew, 24, and Eldin Huric, 20, were also arrested and charged with five offenses each.
Chief Inspector Jo Doueihi said the four men were known to police.
The five charges include aggravated burglary, armed with intent to commit a criminal offence, possessing burglary tools, disguising a face with intent to commit a criminal offense and participation in a criminal group.
Hussein Hamed Habeeb, 24, was arrested after police allegedly seized 722kg of cocaine found in an apartment he was renting in Sydney's northwest
Habeeb was charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime
The photo shows some of the kilo blocks of cocaine found in the Ryde apartment
Police allege the four masked men were armed with a 2-foot crowbar, gloves, a carving knife, a knife, a box cutter, flashing light bars and zip ties
Det Supt Doueihi described the massive cocaine seizure at a press conference on Tuesday as “an absolutely fantastic result for NSW Police”.
“The seizure of that amount of drugs is unprecedented,” he told reporters.
'To be honest, it is a very good result and I am very happy that my researchers have reached this stage.
“Not only did we seize that drug, I can report that we prevented the possible kidnapping of that particular victim.”
The chief inspector said the cocaine bricks indicated the drugs were likely smuggled into Australia from South America or Colombia.
All five men were due to appear at Burwood Local Court on Tuesday.