A man has been charged with terrorism offences after police allegedly found “violent extremist material” on a phone seized during an alleged drug bust in southwest Sydney.
Abdallah El Chami, 31, was pulled over in a Toyota sedan in Yagoona on December 31 last year and officers from State Crime Command’s Raptor Squad Traffic & Highway Patrol allegedly found drugs and cash.
He was charged with drug supply and driving offences and granted conditional bail the next day, but officers from Counter Terrorism & Special Tactics Command examined three mobile phones seized during the arrest and allegedly found violent extremist material stored on one device.
A 31-year-old man has been charged with terror offences in western Sydney after police allegedly found “violent extremist material” on his phone when it was seized during a drug bust.
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Raptor Squad then raided a home in Bass Hill at 6am on Wednesday where they seized more phones and storage devices, and a knife, NSW Police said on Thursday.
He was arrested and taken to Bankstown Police Station where he was charged with “use carriage service possess violent extremist material” and “possess or use a prohibited weapon without permit”.
The accused then appeared in Bankstown Local Court where he was granted conditional bail requiring him to report to police three times a week, The Daily Telegraph reported.
He will face court again on March 3.
The charges come after a Queensland man was refused bail on similar Commonwealth charges when his phone was searched at Brisbane Airport and alleged violent extremist material was found, “including edited first-person videos of international mass shootings and other files containing serious violence”.
He was selected for a baggage and digital device examination by Border Force after previously being warned about trying to import Nazi flags purchased online.
Header image: Left, right, the man being arrested on Wednesday (NSW Police).
