Pacific Police Force leaders have been warned that the region is no longer merely a transit route for organised crime, but is increasingly becoming a destination for criminal syndicates.
Speaking at the Pacific Transnational Crime Summit this morning, Fiji Police Force Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu said Pacific nations were now directly facing the devastating impacts of transnational crime.
“We are literally caught in the middle of the transshipment routes used to traffic illegal commodities, leaving a trail of devastation within the region, while syndicates enjoy the profits of their crimes offshore,” Commissioner Tudravu said.
The summit marks the beginning of the Pacific Police Chiefs meeting and is being co-hosted by the Fiji Police Force and the Australian Federal Police.
Commissioner Tudravu said the Pacific had traditionally been viewed as a transit point for international criminal activity, but that reality had changed significantly.
“The Pacific was known as a transit in the past and today it has become a destination for transnational crime,” he said.
He told regional police leaders that the summit provided an important opportunity to strengthen practical and coordinated responses to organised crime threats across the Pacific.
“During our time of leadership, we must not reach a stage where we say that we can no longer cope or fight back. We must fight back,” Commissioner Tudravu stressed.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the threat posed by transnational crime in the Pacific was growing and affecting communities throughout the region.
“The reality facing all of our communities is real. The AFP is stepping up for our Pacific family and the region, but together as leaders we need to target organised criminals who are trafficking the poison that is affecting our communities and affecting our kids, our future generations,” Commissioner Barrett said.
The summit is expected to focus on strengthening regional cooperation, intelligence sharing and coordinated policing responses against organised criminal networks operating across the Pacific.
