North Korean Ship Crew Charged in Heroin Case

The captain and crew of a North Korean cargo ship were charged Monday with aiding and abetting a $48-million heroin shipment in a case that could highlight illicit efforts by Kim Jong Il’s regime to prop up the communist state’s economy.

The North Koreans were arrested after a five-day chase that ended Sunday when Australian special forces troops rappelled out of a helicopter and boarded the 4,480-ton Pong Su in heavy seas about 75 miles northeast of Sydney.

On Wednesday, four men -- two from Malaysia, a Singaporean and a Chinese -- were arrested in Victoria state and charged with smuggling about 110 pounds of heroin that police say came from a dinghy that had cast off from the Pong Su. They face life sentences if convicted.

Another suspected smuggler died trying to get the drugs ashore.

Police last week said the arrests of the four Asian men went a long way toward smashing an international drug trafficking ring.

North Korea has in the past allegedly resorted to the drug trade to inject cash into its flailing economy and to fund its military efforts.

The Pong Su’s captain and 29 crew -- all North Koreans -- were formally charged Monday with aiding and abetting the import of an illegal good.