Clasps & Rosettes

SORBET – Clasp (AFP)

Operation SORBET was a joint AFP and Australian Defence Force (ADF) operation to track and seize the North Korean flagged merchant ship Pong Su in April 2003. Suspected of illicitly landing illegal drugs in Australia, the Pong Su was ordered into harbor in Australia for investigation, however, the ship attempted to flee into international waters. Tracked by ships and aircraft of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the Pong Su was intercepted at sea inside Australian territorial waters on April 20, 2003 by HMAS Stuart, an Anzac class frigate of the RAN. When
the Pong Su refused orders to heave to she was stormed by a heliborne assault team of Australian Army special forces personnel, accompanied by members of the AFP Operational Deployment Group. Following the seizure of the ship it was steamed into Sydney Harbour and secured. Approximately 150kg of heroin, directly connected to the Pong Su that had been seized by the AFP and Victoria
Police in Victoria was destroyed; the Pong Su was seized by the Australian Government, and, despite protests from North Korea, destroyed in 2006 as a bombing target in a joint RAN/RAAF operation. Members of the AFP who took part in Operation SORBET were awarded the AFP operations Medal with clasp SORBET