It was a hot August day in 2002 when the US Navy patrol boat off the Pacific coast of Mexico first spotted the 25-metre Honolulu-based vessel.
A helicopter from the USS Fife immediately identified her as a fishing boat. She was riding low in the water, clearly weighed down by heavy cargo. Yet something was suspicious. There were no signs of fishing gear. Also, on its deck was a shipping container like those found on freight ships.
When the navy chopper pilot radioed in what he saw, a US Coast Guard law enforcement detachment agreed that the boat was acting suspiciously and instructed that a boarding party take custody of her.
But even the Fife's seasoned crew wasn't prepared for what they found on board the King Diamond II when they approached her. From more than 3km downwind, an over-powering stench assaulted the navy vessel's crew as their cutter neared.
Once on board the rolling boat, however, the boarding team found the source of the stench - the ship's 15-metre-long hold was crammed with tens of thousands of severed shark fins, and thousands more in 45kg bundles of them sat on the open deck. The stench was caused by the King Diamond's faulty refrigerator compartment, which had lost power two days before.
The boarding party arrested captain Chien Tan Nguyen and three other Asian crew members. The Coast Guard's command centre in San Diego instructed the boarding party to take custody of the crew and escort the King Diamond II back to San Diego.