The Pacific has become a storage location for global drug syndicates using the region to transport illicit drugs to major markets.
Speaking at this week’s Pacific Transnational Crime Summit at the Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay, Pacific Program at Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime head Virginia Comolli revealed that Fiji and other Pacific island nations were not only transit routes but were also destination and storage locations.
“So what we are witnessing is not more crime but the progressive integration of Pacific Island Countries into global illicit supply chains,” said Ms Comolli.
“Importantly, many Pacific countries do not function solely as transit points, some have become consumer markets, logistics hubs and storage locations and in certain places have even become production environments.”
Highlighting key points around illicit commodities, financial crimes, cyber crime and criminal convergence, Ms Comolli said these markets were becoming increasingly interconnected.
“Drugs for instance are intersecting with financial crime, corruption, violence and also some markets such as illegal logging.
“This is because criminal actors no longer operate in silos, they cooperate and exploit the gaps between institutions and jurisdictions.”
Ms Comolli said while drugs dominated transnational crimes in the region, enforcement agencies should not overlook the relationship between drugs and weapons.
“Across the wider Pacific region there has been increasing concerns regarding firearm seizures and weapons trafficking.
“In PNG, authorities repeatedly raised concerns of illicit firearms circulating alongside criminal activities.
“Elsewhere in the Pacific authorities have encountered firearms linked to transnational trafficking networks. One recent case was French authorities seized a yacht travelling in the Pacific carrying drugs also found ammunitions.
“These matters because organised crime markets rarely remain isolated so as drug trafficking expands associated arms also follow.”
