FED: High seas pursuit of drugs ship ends off NSW coast

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2003
FED: High seas pursuit of drugs ship ends off NSW coast

A four-day high seas pursuit has ended with Australian defence forces boarding a cargo
ship allegedly involved in importing $75 million worth of heroin.

Police say last week the Pong Su landed 50 kilograms of heroin in Victoria.

The federal government ordered the Royal Australian Navy to take action over the weekend.

The ship's captain had ignored repeated police warnings to stop as it steamed northwards
from Victoria.

Early yesterday morning, a boarding party took control of the ship without resistance,
off Port Stephens in NSW.

Australian Navy Rear Admiral RAYDON GATES says the HMAS Stuart sailed into view at
dawn and a naval helicopter and inflatable dinghies were used to seize the ship.



Operation Tartan began on Victoria's south-west coast last Wednesday when heroin was
found in a vehicle at Lorne.

Two men were arrested at the scene, a Malaysian national and Singaporean national.

Two other men, from Malaysia and China, have been arrested.

The body of another man, believed to be a drug ring member, was found on a nearby beach.

AAP RTV ld/jtb/psm/

KEYWORD: HEROIN SHIP (SYDNEY)

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