[1] On the night of 15 April 2003, Australian Federal Police (AFP) conducted surveillance on two people who rendezvoused with the Pong Su close to shore at Boggaley Creek, near the seaside town of Wye River in Victoria, and followed them to a nearby hotel.
The following day, in a search of the beach at Boggaley Creek, police discovered the body of a man of East Asian appearance, close to a dinghy and covered by seaweed.
[2] In May 2003, a further 75 kilograms (165 lb) of heroin in three packages was discovered buried near Wye River, after a search which followed coordinates from a seized GPS device.
On the morning of 17 April, a Tasmania Police patrol vessel directed the Pong Su to head for Melbourne after it had travelled east entering the Bass Strait.
In the morning of 18 April, the Pong Su changed direction to the east away from Australia towards international waters at speed with a police vessel having to terminate the pursuit due to rough weather.
Searches of the ship by Australian authorities revealed it had been modified for long voyages and was carrying enough fuel and provisions to travel around the world without needing to enter a port.
[10] Teng was deported to his home country of Malaysia, while as of 2019 Wee Quay Tan remained in custody at Fulham Correctional Centre near Sale, Victoria.
The Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer called in the North Korean ambassador to lodge a formal protest.
[citation needed] Under questioning, crew members insisted throughout that the ship was privately owned by the "Pong Su Shipping Company" and had no connection to the North Korean state, that they had never seen the two men who had brought the heroin ashore, that their voyage had been in order to pick up a cargo of luxury cars from Melbourne on behalf of a Malaysian company (later shown not to exist), and that they had only stopped off Boggaley Creek in order to conduct engine repairs.
While awaiting deportation, the 26 remaining crew members were held in Baxter Detention Centre; during which time they were questioned by federal authorities.
The prosecution case against the four North Korean officers was that they would not have allowed their ship to be stopped in the position it was if they were not aware that the real purpose of their voyage was to smuggle the heroin.