‘Threat environment’ growing faster, Pacific island states at risk of gaining a foothold: UN

Pacific island nations are at risk of becoming a base for global criminal gangs, a report from the United Nations drug authority said Friday, as criminal activity increases in the isolated and economically fragile region.

The report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says the region’s ‘threat environment’ due to drug and human trafficking, illegal fishing and wildlife theft, money laundering and cybercrime is increasing faster than any other moment in history.

The region is now home to drug cartels from America, outlaw motorcycle gangs from Australia and New Zealand and Asian crime groups, the report said.

“The thriving criminal ecosystem in the Pacific has attracted powerful transnational criminal networks from various corners of the world,” the report said.

“There are growing concerns that parts of the region could become major hubs and strongholds targeted by criminal groups engaged in a range of illegal activities.”

Spread across thousands of kilometers of ocean, the Pacific islands and territories are particularly vulnerable due to their isolation and economic fragility, as well as high levels of corruption and limited state capacity, the report said.

Many Pacific islands have historically relied on foreign countries like Australia to help with policing, an issue that has become geopolitically charged since China sent police to the Solomon Islands in 2022. The country also has agents in Kiribati.

Australia said earlier this year that China should have no role in policing the region and pledged US$400 million ($270 million) to train and deploy police in the region.

Their ally the United States, which is also concerned about China’s influence in the region, said in August it would work with the region to monitor drug trafficking by criminal groups in China and Southeast Asia.

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