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After being caught trying to smuggle drugs into Australia the Pong Su was sunk by two 2000-pound (900 kg) laser-guided bombs dropped from an RAAF F-111 aircraft. The deliberate destruction of the freighter was said to deliver a strong message to international drug smuggling rings that the Australian Federal Government would take all measures necessary to stop illegal drug importation.

One of the aspects of the Michael Vick dog fighting investigation that hasn't gotten much attention is how it all started. So let's explain: It all started with a dog named Troy. Troy is a Dutch shepherd (that's a Dutch shepherd in the photo, but it's not Troy) who joined the police department in Hampton, Va., last year. During a patrol outside a Hampton nightclub in April, Troy alerted his handler that he smelled drugs in the trunk of a car. Police found marijuana in the car, which turned out to belong to Vick's cousin, Davon Boddie. After arresting Boddie,...

A man who was stopped for speeding was arrested after three gallons of the "date-rape drug" GHB were found in his car, enough for 20,000 doses, authorities said. Daniel Gertz, 37, of Los Angeles, was taken into custody on multiple felony charges including possession and transportation of a narcotic for sale, according to the California Highway Patrol. GHB, which stands for gamma-hydroxybutyrate, creates a euphoric, drunken feeling in low doses and can knock people out in higher amounts. Authorities said Gertz was transporting the drug to a party in San Francisco when he was stopped Wednesday for driving 88 mph...

A submarine-like vessel filled with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine was seized off the Guatemalan coast, U.S. officials said. Four suspected smugglers were operating the self-propelled, semi-submersible vessel when it was located and seized on Sunday evening by officials from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, the Border Patrol said in a news release Wednesday. When the suspects realized they had been spotted by drug-surveillance aircraft patrolling the eastern Pacific, they scuttled the vessel but were unable to escape. Coast Guard officials, guided by the reconnaissance plane, intercepted the vessel...

Fifteen British sailors and Marines are being held by Iranian forces, says the Ministry of Defence. More follows...

ETAJIMA ? The only special squad of the Maritime Self-Defense Force has engaged in secret drills to prepare for Japan's possible inspections of North Korea-related ships under a U.N. Security Council resolution following Pyongyang's nuclear test last month, Kyodo News learned Thursday. The MSDF is carrying out the drills every day at its base in Etajima, a Seto Inland Sea island in Hiroshima Prefecture even though the Japanese government has yet to decide its position on the issue due to legal sensitivities. The government has left various questions unanswered, such as whether it can apply the law on Japan's...

The good news about nuclear destruction Posted: August 24, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern By Shane Connor What possible good news could there ever be about nuclear destruction coming to America, whether it is dirty bombs, terrorist nukes or ICBMs from afar? In a word, they are all survivable for the vast majority of American families, if they know what to do beforehand and have made even the most modest preparations. Tragically, though, most Americans today won't give much credence to this good news, much less seek out such vital life-saving instruction, as they have been jaded by our culture's pervasive myths...

A PROGRAM of clandestine action against nuclear and missile traffic to North Korea and Iran is to be intensified after last week's missile tests by the Pyongyang regime. Intelligence agencies, navies and air forces from at least 13 nations are quietly co-operating in a secret war against Pyongyang and Tehran. It has so far involved interceptions of North Korean ships at sea, US agents prowling the waterfronts in Taiwan, multinational naval and air surveillance missions out of Singapore, investigators poring over the books of dubious banks in the former Portuguese colony of Macau and a fleet of planes and ships...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2005 – Iraqi and coalition officials are doing their best to halt shipments of bomb-making materials, expertise and individuals into Iraq, DoD officials said in a Pentagon news conference today. The officials were asked about British Prime Minister Tony Blair's assertion that Iran and Hezbollah are providing materials used to attack coalition targets and destabilize Iraq. Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, deputy operations chief on the Joint Staff, said Iraqi security forces had intercepted a shipment of devices from Iran into Iraq about a month ago. "It is principally, as we would expect, an Iraqi issue to...

(via North KoreaZone) The United States and its allies have intercepted two deliveries of materials useful in making nuclear and chemical weapons by North Korea, the State Department said Tuesday. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher made the disclosure in remarks to reporters, citing 11 successful efforts in the past nine months by the United States and its allies in an anti-proliferation campaign, called the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). `I have cited two cases involving North Korea. I¡¯ve cited several cases involving countries of proliferation concern, including Iran,¡¯¡¯ Boucher said in a press briefing. ``In addition, we worked to impede the...

The Bush administration, facing a series of recent provocations from North Korea, is debating a plan to seek a United Nations resolution empowering all nations to intercept shipments in or out of the country that may contain nuclear materials or components, say senior administration officials and diplomats who have been briefed on the proposal. The resolution envisioned by a growing number of senior administration officials would amount to a quarantine of North Korea, though, so far at least, President Bush's aides are not using that word. It would enable the United States and other nations to intercept shipments in international...

AN Australian port could be attacked or a ferry hijacked by terrorists to transport weapons of mass destruction, because of gaps in the maritime border security net. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has found a lack of awareness from states and the federal Government about the specific threats posed from the sea. "A determined and expert terrorist is still likely to have little difficulty in entering Australia by sea, and will probably only be defeated by advance intelligence of his movements," the institute says in a report titled Future unknown: the terrorist threat to Australian maritime security. "We have high...

Compiling a list of suspicious incidents nationwide, including train derailments, chemical/oil refinery fires and or explosions, etc. Don't forget to include news link for source. Please send to my attention.

<p>Though the war on terror continues, the U.S. government has left the public completely exposed to the aftermath of a radiological attack. There is no better evidence of this than the actions of the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS is very focused on interdiction, government continuity and infrastructure protection, but it has not yet prepared for civil defense, which is the protection of civilians in time of war or disaster.</p>

WASHINGTON — Documents seen by FOX News suggest a conflict of interest may exist between Kofi Annan's (search) son, the Swiss company he worked for and the United Nations. Congressional investigators are examining those records and thousands of pages of others as part of their probe into the controversial U.N. Oil-for-Food (search) program. FOX News was permitted to review some documents but not make copies. Kojo Annan (search), the son of the U.N. secretary general, claims he has never been involved directly or indirectly with any business related to the United Nations. And Cotecna Inspection S.A., the company Kojo worked...

When experts from the US and the IAEA came upon blueprints for a 10-kiloton atomic bomb in the files of the Libyan weapons program earlier this year, they found themselves caught between gravity and pettiness. The discovery gave the experts a new appreciation of the audacity of the rogue nuclear network led by A. Q. Khan, a chief architect of Pakistan's bomb. Intelligence officials had watched Dr. Khan for years and suspected that he was trafficking in machinery for enriching uranium to make fuel for warheads. But the detailed design represented a new level of danger, particularly since the Libyans...

HSL-37 commands the high seasSubmitted by: MCB Hawaii Story by: Computed Name: Cpl. Jessica M. Mills Story Identification #: 200412316549 MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii(Dec. 3, 2004) -- Reminiscent of Sinbad or Black Beard the Pirate, Detachment Three of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 47, known as The Pirates of the Caribbean, returned to MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, on Nov. 12, after six months of traveling and pillaging the South Seas completing counter-narcotics operations with the U.S. Coast Guard. The Sailors were deployed to the Eastern Pacific off the coast of South America and the Caribbean on the USS...

Washington D.C. – In the last five days, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol agents seized over 10,700 pounds of marijuana and 88 pounds of cocaine along the southwest border stretching from California to Texas. With the increased security along our borders, smugglers of both humans and contraband continue to test our resolve to protect this nation,” said David Aguilar, National Border Patrol Chief. “These significant seizures illustrate our commitment to defend our country against all threats.” On November 15th, a CBP Border Patrol agent assigned to the Nogales, Arizona Station seized 995 pounds of marijuana, valued at...

BERN, Switzerland - Prosecutors on Wednesday opened an investigation into two Swiss citizens suspected of illegally exporting nuclear-bomb-making technology to Libya, a spokesman for the prosecutors office said. The spokesman, Hansjuerg Mark Wiedmer, declined to identify the suspects. But one investigative source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one was Swiss engineer Urs Tinner, who was arrested in Germany last week. The Swiss agency that polices adherence to international sanctions disclosed in February that it had opened an investigation to determine whether Tinner had broken Swiss law by making precision parts in Malaysia that were destined for Libya. He is...

Two fishing vessels with roughly 27 tons of cocaine aboard were intercepted in the Eastern Pacific, the Department of Homeland Security announced today. Work by a Florida-based multiagency task force investigation led to the two seizures, among the largest maritime seizures of cocaine in U.S. history, and the arrest of 18 individuals. U.S. Navy vessels were among assets used in the operation. On Sept. 17, Navy frigate USS Curts, with a U.S. Coast Guard law-enforcement detachment on board, intercepted the fishing vessel Lina Maria, about 300 miles southwest of the Galapagos Islands. Aboard the vessel, the Coast Guard boarding team...

Bushehr atomic power plant in Iran. (Yandex) E-Mail this article Comments to Editor Discussion Forum Printer-Friendly Advertisement A top U.S. diplomat said on Thursday he hoped Russia would by June 1 join a group of nations prepared to board ships and raid suspect factories in a bid to stem the trade in weapons of mass destruction. But U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton's Russian partner poured cold water on his optimism, saying Moscow still sought answers to a number of questions about President George W. Bush's Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). Russia is the only member of the Group of Eight...

<p>April 22, 2004 -- A Florida-based arms company is at the center of the international probe into a New York-bound ship seized in Italy while laden with thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles, The Post has learned.</p> <p>The AK-47s were apparently bound for Vermont.</p>

A Turkish ship headed for New York — and stuffed with thousands of AK-47s (search) and other Kalashnikov assault rifles — was seized en route in Italy, authorities said Tuesday. The ship's deadly hoard of more than 7,500 terrorist-grade rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million was discovered illegally hidden under piles of properly labeled arms in several massive cargo containers, Italian officials said. The ship MS Adnan Bayraktar, which bears a Turkish flag, had come from the Romanian port of Constanta (search) and was on its way to a stopover in New York when the bust was...

<p>ROME (AP) -- Authorities in southern Italy seized about 7,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles and other combat-grade firearms from a ship headed for New York, officials said Tuesday.</p> <p>The weapons - AK-47s, AKM rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million - were found mixed in with properly labeled guns in cargo containers on board a Turkish-flagged ship that docked at the port of Gioia Tauro, a police official said.</p>

<p>April 21, 2004 -- A Turkish ship headed for New York - and stuffed with thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles and AK-47s - was seized en route in Italy, authorities said yesterday.</p> <p>The ship's deadly hoard of more than 7,500 terrorist-grade rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million was discovered illegally hidden under piles of properly labeled arms in several massive cargo containers, Italian officials said.</p>

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that government agents can search and even dismantle a car's gas tank as part of drug and other smuggling interdiction at the nation's borders. Border officers can randomly search gas tanks, despite the absence of specific indication that a particular car is suspect, the high court said. People crossing the border have less expectation of privacy than elsewhere, and searching the inner reaches of a car is not the same thing as a strip search or other intrusive search of the driver, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the court.

LIMA : US ships nabbed a Peruvian vessel in international waters that was carrying seven tonnes of cocaine for a Mexican cartel, Peru's Interior Minister Fernando Rospigliosi said. After several weeks of cooperation between Peru's anti-drug trafficking agency and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, US authorities stopped the Peruvian boat "Grinchi" and its cargo after it sailed from the northern Peruvian port town of Chimbote, Rospigliosi said. Advertisement The route taken by the boat "is the one that has been used by drug traffickers to take drugs out of Peru," he said. The cocaine, which was found in 136 bags,...

Story Number: NNS040304-03 Release Date: 3/4/2004 10:10:00 AM From Expeditionary Strike Group 1 Public Affairs SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The seven ships attached to Expeditionary Strike Group One (ESG 1) are returning home this week following a six and a half month deployment in support of the global war on terrorism. USS Greeneville (SSN 772) returned to its Pearl Harbor homeport Feb. 27. USS Port Royal (CG 73), also from Pearl Harbor, is scheduled to arrive home March 10. The remaining ships of ESG 1, USS Peleliu (LHA 5), USS Ogden (LPD 5), USS Decatur (DDG 73), USS Jarrett (FFG...

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under its new chairman, Richard Lugar, should make its first order of business an inquiry into President Bush's maladroit and shortsighted decision-making in the So San affair. Our National Security Agency, to its credit, spotted the movement of 15 Scud missiles and 85 drums of chemicals from a factory in North Korea to its secret loading aboard the freighter So San, and tracked the unflagged ship around the world to the Arabian Sea. The C.I.A. was unable to determine the customer of these offensive weapons, unreliable in military combat but useful in striking terror into...

ABOARD USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58), working with Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 403, recently detained eight suspected drug traffickers and recovered more than 7,000 lbs. of cocaine from an ablaze vessel while at the mid-point of a record-setting counter-drug deployment. Roberts was ordered to intercept and question a suspicious vessel that was being tracked by the ship’s embarked helicopter, Magnum 450, from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron, Light (HSL) 44 Det. 7. But initial attempts to establish communications received no response. Finally, the suspected vessel sent a message stating there was...

<p>The U.S. Navy has seized another small boat carrying drugs near the Persian Gulf after interrogating smugglers with suspected links to the al Qaeda terrorist network, the military announced yesterday.</p> <p>The boat seized on New Year's Day was the fourth drug-smuggling vessel intercepted by Americans in the past two weeks in or near the Persian Gulf. Pentagon officials say they believe all four boats, which were carrying hashish, heroin and methamphetamines, are part of a drug-smuggling operation that funnels money to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.</p>

US seizes 'al-Qaeda drug boat' The US navy has made a series of arrests on the region's seas The US navy has intercepted a boat carrying drugs near the Gulf in what it says is a suspected al-Qaeda drugs trafficking operation. Fifteen people on board the vessel were arrested and the navy said it had found hashish with a street value of $11m hidden in compartments on board. It is at least the third drug-smuggling boat to have been seized in two weeks in or near the Gulf. A number of arrested sailors are being questioned, the Pentagon said. US...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 January 2, 2004Release Number: 04-01-05 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE INTERROGATION OF SUSPECTED AL QAEDA AFFILIATES LEADS U.S. AND AUSTRALIAN NAVIES TO SEIZE MORE DRUGS ABOARD USS PELELIU, At Sea (1 JAN 2004) – Fifteen individuals were detained and an estimated 2,800 pounds of hashish (approximately $11 million street value) was seized by U.S. and coalition maritime forces following the interception of a dhow in the North Arabian Sea. These forces were operating in international waters in the Commander, U.S. Naval Forces...

U.S. Navy Seizes Small Boat Carrying $11 Million Worth of Hashish Near Persian Gulf WASHINGTON Jan. 2 — The U.S. Navy has seized another small boat carrying drugs near the Persian Gulf after interrogating smugglers with suspected links to the al-Qaida terrorist network, the military announced Friday. The boat seized on New Year's Day was the fourth drug-smuggling vessel intercepted by Americans in the past two weeks in or near the Persian Gulf. Pentagon officials say they believe all four boats, which were carrying hashish, heroin and methamphetamines, are part of a drug smuggling operation which funnels money to Osama...

Officials have confirmed that a German-flagged ship was carrying parts to build a nuclear bomb from a Persian Gulf country to Libya in October. Investigators seized the shipment before it reached its destination. Just a few months before Libya declared it would cease its efforts to create weapons of mass destruction, American and British agents seized a German freighter ship loaded with centrifuges and other parts that are used to create enriched uranium, the material needed to build nuclear bombs. The seizure is believed to have influenced Tripoli’s decision to suspend its weapons program last month. On Wednesday, U.S. State...

U.S. and British intelligence in late September discovered a secret shipment bound for Libya that contained thousands of parts for centrifuges, a key component for producing nuclear weapons, senior U.S. officials said Wednesday. Officials said the interception of the cargo was a critical factor in squeezing Libya to give up its deadliest weapons programs. The shipment was headed from a Persian Gulf port aboard a German ship. With help from the German government and the German shipping company, the United States was able to get the freighter BBC China diverted to a southern Italian port in early October, when it...

Navy forces have detained four al Qaeda suspects as a result of maritime interdiction operations in the U.S. Central Command area or responsibility, Vice Adm. David Nichols said Dec. 19. Nichols, who heads the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, 5th Fleet, said that within the last two weeks, ships stopped and searched two ships. In one instance, sailors detained one individual; in the other it was three. In one case, the suspected al Qaeda was trying to enter Iraq. In the other, Navy officials do not know where the ship was destined. At least one ship was carrying hashish, said...

While many analysts are crediting the U.S.'s capture of Saddam Hussein for the decision by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi to change his ways, it was actually the discovery by U.S. intelligence of a cache of Libya's WMDs that convinced the duplicitous dictator that the jig was up. According to Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, "One thing that pushed Gadhafi over the top in making this deal was that we intercepted a ship on the high seas sometime in the summer or early fall that had weapons of mass destruction components being shipped to Libya." Kristol told Fox News Sunday that...

December 19, 2003 Release Number: 03-12-50 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE USS Decatur Captures Possible Al-Qaida Associated Drug-Smuggling dhow in Arabian Gulf Aboard USS Enterprise – A U.S. Navy boarding team operating from the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) discovered an estimated two tons of narcotics with a street value of around eight to ten million dollars aboard a 40-foot dhow intercepted in the Arabian Gulf on Dec. 15, at approximately 11:00 a.m. The dhow’s 12 crewmembers were taken into custody and transferred to USS Decatur, and Decatur sailors are in control of the dhow. The smuggling routes are known to...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States and its allies are willing to use "robust techniques" to stop rogue nations from getting the materials they need to make weapons of mass destruction -- including interdicting and seizing such "illicit goods" on the high seas or in the air, a top U.S. official bluntly warned Tuesday.</p>

Terrorism experts fear that the world's oil tankers, sea lanes and major ports are dangerously vulnerable to 9/11-scale attacks that would cripple world trade. They cite an alarming combination of factors, including terrorist-connected Southeast Asian rebels involved in piracy, the difficulty of tracking suspect vessels in the murky world of commercial shipping, and an Al Qaeda fleet that could be as large as 300 vessels. Plots that have already been carried out include the October 2000 attack on the U.S. destroyer Cole in the port of Aden in Yemen, which killed 17 sailors, and the attack last October on the...

<p>WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The United States, Australia, Japan and France will send ships to the western Pacific next week for an exercise simulating an interception of weapons.</p> <p>According to a report in Asia Times, some 11 industrialized nations decided last week in Paris to step up plans to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction. While the Proliferation Security Initiative group is not specifically aimed at North Korea, there is no doubt that Pyongyang, which Washington and others accuse of making clandestine shipments of drugs, counterfeit cash and missiles, is the primary target.</p>

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - The first international air and naval exercise in a U.S.-led plan to stamp out global trade in weapons of mass destruction began Saturday off Australia's northeast coast, as North Korea branded the drill a "military provocation." The 11-nation operation, dubbed Exercise Pacific Protector, is the first by the signatories to the Proliferation Security Initiative proposed by President Bush in May to stop illegal weapons shipments by air, land or sea. About 800 military and security personnel - as well as aircraft and ships - from Australia, the United States, Japan and France are involved in the...

Exercise Focuses on WMD Traffickers By Donna Miles American Forces Information Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2003 -- A Japanese-flagged commercial merchant vessel is suspected of carrying items related to weapons of mass destruction. Military and law enforcement assets from Australia, France, Japan and the United States trail the vessel. The Japan coast guard, working with its French, U.S. and Australian law enforcement counterparts, boards the vessel on the high seas and conducts a search. This is the scenario for Pacific Protector, a three-day exercise now under way in international waters off northeastern Australia. The exercise, which began Sept. 12...

Friday September 5, 12:08 PMU.S. and allies to search ships for WMDBy Mark John PARIS (Reuters) - The United States and 10 allies have stepped up plans to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction despite a warning from China that the move could be illegal. Four nations, the United States, Australia, Japan and France, will send ships to the Western Pacific next week for an exercise simulating an interception, John Bolton, Washington's top arms control official, said after their talks in Paris. Bolton rejected concerns that the initiative launched by President George W. Bush in May risked...

Paris (CNSNews.com) - Ten allied countries, including the United States, have agreed on plans to stop and search ships that are suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction after a two-day meeting in Paris of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). The United States along with France, Australia and Japan will participate in military exercises in the Western Pacific next week in simulations of what may become real interceptions. The exercise has been named "Pacific Protector." However, the move may cause new tension with China, which has previously criticized the boarding of ships as counter to international law and said that...

First of two articlesNEW DELHI -- Tae Min Hun, the dour captain of the North Korean freighter Kuwolsan, glared icily from the bridge as tempers around him soared in the midday heat. On June 30, 1999, as customs agents in India's northwestern port city of Kandla waited impatiently to board the vessel, Tae received urgent instructions from Pyongyang: At all cost, let no one open the cargo boxes.The Indians tried to look anyway, and a melee erupted. Tae and his crew rained blows on inspectors and barricaded the doors with their bodies, according to witness accounts and video footage of...

<p>ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. and Dutch authorities have agreed to install equipment at Rotterdam, Europe's busiest seaport, to detect hidden shipments of radioactive material.</p> <p>"Terrorist groups and rogue nations trying to smuggle components for nuclear weapons is a serious threat that must be addressed," U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said, surveying the sprawling expanse of cargo facilities at the port of Rotterdam.</p>

<p>The intercepted vessel belongs to a United Arab Emirates company based in Dubai, British Navy Cmdr. Graeme Mackay said.</p> <p>The UAE vessel, Navstar 1, ignored three warnings from the HMS Sutherland to return to the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, prompting the Royal Marines to board the ship and arrest the master and crew.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is preparing to tighten an economic noose around North Korea, even as it considers new talks to persuade the regime of Kim Jong Il to give up nuclear weapons.</p> <p>The administration has lined up 10 other nations to join a so-called proliferation security initiative. These countries — Japan, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Spain — have agreed to intercept North Korean ships suspected of carrying weapons and illegal drugs, major sources of hard currency for Kim's government.</p>