GETTING AWAY WITH DRUG SMUGGLING, NO QUESTIONS ASKED

How Sociology And A Lack Of Prints Helped A North Korean Crew Get
Off, Despite Offloading Victoria's Biggest Heroin Haul

TWO men drop over the side of the North Korean freighter Pong Su. It
is early morning, April 16, 2003. The ship is near the coast of
southern Victoria, and it has a precious cargo.

Carefully sealed in blue plastic bags, 150 kilograms of high-grade
heroin are transferred from the ship to a rubber dinghy. In
treacherous conditions near Boggaley Creek, about 100 kilometres from
Geelong, the dinghy's outboard motor is started.

The pair have a rendezvous with three other drug importers, who have
flown into Australia on fake passports. But they strike trouble. The
engine stops. One of the men drowns and 25 kilograms of heroin are
lost. The survivor, Ta Song Wong, makes it to the beach with the body
of his companion.

Even with the loss of the heroin packet, the haul represented the
biggest importation ever detected in Victoria. Later, in the Supreme
Court, police estimated it had a street value of $160 million.

While the smuggler and his support crew on shore were scooped up by
Australian Federal Police officers, the Pong Su was the target of a
dramatic four-day sea chase. Thirty crew members were arrested and
accused of aiding and abetting the importation of the drug, carried
from China by the two men who had brought along their own dinghy.

Reports to US authorities cited the Pong Su case as possible evidence
of the North Korean Government's involvement in drug trading.

Eventually, Wong and the three members of the shore party pleaded
guilty to charges relating to the heroin delivery. Two of the men on
shore were jailed for 22 and 23 years respectively. Wong and the
other man await sentencing.

The first victory for the rest of the crew came in 2004 when a
magistrate found that there was insufficient evidence to send most of
the sailors for trial. Four senior members remained: the captain,
political secretary, first officer and chief engineer. At their
trial, the prosecution pointed to the coincidence of the North Korean
cargo ship, on its first voyage to Australia, reaching Boggaley Creek
at the time the shore party was ready to receive the drugs.

In delivering one of the sentences, Justice Murray Kellam said that
the operation was complex, secret and well-planned. Evidence at the
officers' trial showed that a fake shipping company was set up to
give the impression that the Pong Su was travelling to Melbourne to
pick up luxury cars.

The men who were to receive the drugs spoke in code on mobile phones.
The heroin was called the "girlfriend".

But the defence counsel asserted there was a lack of concrete
evidence and used the prosecution's evidence about the rigid command
structure within North Korean society to argue that even the senior
officers were not informed about the heroin delivery.

In January, barristers representing the four senior officers said the
prosecution had not produced evidence proving their clients were
linked to the importation.

Nick Papas, for Man Jin Ri, the ship's first officer, said no
fingerprints from any of the ship's crew were found on the heroin packages.

Captain Song Man Sun's barrister, Ian Hayden, said evidence from a
prosecution expert on North Korea showed obedience and unquestioning
loyalty were essential themes in the country. He said Adrian Buzo
agreed that the society operated on a "need to know" basis and
members were expected to follow their leaders. Under those values,
Captain Song was his employers' servant, and his crew members were
expected to obey him.

John O'Sullivan, for political secretary Dong Song Choi, had to obey
decisions made at the top. Dr Buzo's evidence supported the defence,
not the skewed prosecution version of decision-making aboard the Pong
Su, he said.

Stephen Russell, representing chief engineer Ju Chon Ri, said Mr Ri
was following orders and doing his job. If the prosecution could not
exclude that hypothesis beyond reasonable doubt, he had to be found not guilty.

The importers had not known they were being tracked by police.

After the heroin, wrapped in plastic and covered in fishing net, was
retrieved and the dead man's body was hidden under kelp, the shore
team split up.

Two of the men were arrested after spending the rest of the night at
Lorne's Grand Pacific Hotel. The car they were driving was filled
with packs of heroin.

The third was intercepted on the Princes Highway, driving to
Melbourne. No heroin was found with him, but three packs were later
recovered near Boggaley Creek.

Wong, who had survived the dangerous trip from the Pong Su, was found
hiding in dense scrub on April 17, 2003. He was wet and cold, without
a passport and wearing light clothing.

The Pong Su was captured after a four-day chase that started at
Boggaley Creek and ended off NSW. Captain Song told a Supreme Court
jury he had believed Wong and his companion to be charterers' agents.
When they went missing, after the ship's charter to pick up luxury
cars was cancelled, his masters at the Pong Su Shipping Company told
him they would look after the men, and to keep travelling.

Chased by various Australian vessels, the Pong Su made it to 70
nautical miles north-east of Sydney before it was intercepted by a
navy frigate.

Captain Song said he received instructions from a police vessel to
travel to Melbourne, but was told by his company that the demand was
illegal. He said he was heading for Papua New Guinea.