Pong Su incident

rdf:langString Pong Su incident

rdf:langString The Pong Su incident began on 16 April 2003 when heroin was smuggled from the Pong Su, a North Korean cargo ship, onto an Australian beach. Australian military special forces subsequently boarded the Pong Su in Australian territorial waters four days later. The ship was suspected of being involved in smuggling almost 125 kilograms (276 lb) of heroin into Australia with an estimated street value of A$160 million. The Pong Su (봉수호) was a 349-foot (106 m), 3,743-tonne North Korean-owned ocean freighter registered in Tuvalu, a flag of convenience. Three men arrested on shore were convicted of importing heroin; a fourth man from the ship who landed the heroin and was arrested on shore pleaded guilty; the crew were all acquitted and deported; and after being confiscated the ship was destroyed in 2006.