Cocaine boat: Captain of ship which fled Australia shot by PNG navy
The captain of a boat which left Australian waters after offloading a record 1.8 tonnes of cocaine into a fishing trawler, leading to the arrests of three people, has been shot after a confrontation with the New Guinean navy.
NSW
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Exclusive: The captain of the Chinese mother ship which fled Australian waters after offloading a record 1.8 tonnes of cocaine near Lord Howe Island to a smaller boat has been shot after being intercepted by the New Guinean navy.
Australian police said the 45 metre vessel was detected near Noumea a few days ago and ventured toward the island of New Ireland where Papua New Guinean authorities dispatched a navy boat to meet it last Saturday night.
After the boat refused to stop when ordered, officers on board HMPNGS Moresby attempted to shoot out the satellite navigation instruments as it fled, but a bullet ricocheted and hit the captain.
He was taken to Kavieng hospital on New Ireland where he has had surgery on a gunshot wound to his buttocks.
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“Funny, when it was boarded there was no fish, no fishing equipment and the boat didn’t even have a name,’’ said an Australian law official.
Local media report the Australian Federal Police have joined PNG officers in their investigation.
PNG website The National reported the unregistered boat was escorted by the HMPNGS Moresby back to Kavieng Port where it’s anchored.
“As it is, I am unable to reveal any more information but can confirm the boat has no name, is unregistered and no other information can be found on it,” PNG Defence Force Chief of Staff Captain Philip Polewara told The National.
“Only one crew member on board is able to speak English.”
A police and customs search of the boat found eight men of different nationalities but only two passports.
The boat was used to allegedly import 1900 1kg blocks of cocaine worth more than S600 million which was earlier this month loaded on to red trawler, the “Coralynne” which had departed from Newcastle.
On August 15, the NSW police launch Nemesis boarded the Coralynne and arrested NSW men Christopher John Preca and Jackson Ross Giles-Adams and Chinese national Man Wah Chan.
The trio appeared in court in Sydney last week charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life behind bars.
They have also been charged with failing or refusing to disclose their identity.
There was allegedly an attempt to set the trawler alight before it was taken to Sydney where the drugs were discovered.
Australian police began their operation when Border Force picked up the Chinese mother ship in Australian waters despite it not appearing to have a permit to fish. The ABF continued to monitor the ship which zigzagged for no apparent reason off the NSW north coast.