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The Pong Su Incident was a suspected case of North Korean government drug trafficking, involving the Australian seizure of a DPRK ship, the Pong Su. On April 16 2003, police in Australia observed the Tuvalu registered, North Korean owned freighter, Pong Su close to shore and followed two Chinese suspects on the shore as they left the beach and headed for a near-by hotel. The next morning, the two suspects were apprehended at their hotel with 50 kg of pure heroin. Then, in a search of the beach where the two suspects had been seen the day before, Australian police discovered the body of a North Korean recently buried close to a dingy. It is probable that the dingy had capsized while bringing the heroin ashore, drowning one of the North Koreans. Police also apprehended another North Korean in the immediate area. Unable to get back to his boat, he had simply remained in the area where the drugs came ashore the night before. A third ethnic Chinese drug trafficking suspect was also taken into custody.
Australian authorities ordered the Pong Su into harbor, but the ship attempted to escape into international waters. After a helicopter boarding by Australian Army Special Operations Forces, the Pong Su was brought into port. Australia’s Incident Response Regiment was also deployed, indicating Australia’s suspision of weapons on board. The ethnic Chinese suspects and the captain and crew of the Pong Su have been charged with narcotics trafficking. Most signifigantly, an official of the governing Korean Workers' Party was found on board, linking the drug shipment to Kim Jong-il’s Stalinist regime. The Australian Foreign Minister Alexander DownerAlexander John Gosse Downer (born September 9, 1951), Australian politician, became Foreign Minister of Australia in March 1996. Downer was born in Adelaide, South Australia, into one of the state's oldest families (irreverently known as Old Adelaide Fami called in the North Korean Ambassador to lodge a formal protest.
On March 2March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). There are 304 days remaining. Events 986 Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1717 The Loves of Mars and Venus became the first ballet performed in England. 1791 Long dista 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co, the US State Department released a report using the incident to link Kim Jong-il's regime to drugs trafficking.
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- List of Korea-related topicsThis is a list of Wikipedia articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. For help on how to use this list, see the introduction below. Quick Index Contents Introduction List of Korea-related topics (1-K List of Korea-related topics (L-Z
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