Pacific law enforcement agencies have launched a major coordinated response to rising transnational organised crime, as new figures reveal 17 tonnes of illicit drugs—mostly cocaine—have been seized across the Pacific region since January this year.
The initiative was formally announced at the Pacific Transnational Crime Summit in Fiji, co-hosted by the Fiji Police Force and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), bringing together senior police leaders from across the Pacific, Five Eyes partners and international law enforcement agencies.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the scale of drug trafficking across the region had reached a critical level, with organised crime networks increasingly targeting the Pacific as both a transit route and an emerging market.
“While most of these drugs are still trafficked to Australia, we are now seeing instances of organised crime sending illicit commodities directly to the Pacific to find another market,” Commissioner Barrett said.
She said Australia’s demand for illegal drugs was placing “significant pressure on our Pacific family” and required stronger regional cooperation to disrupt criminal networks.
Fiji Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu said the summit reflected a unified Pacific-led response to the growing threat of transnational crime, describing collaboration as essential to addressing the scale of the problem.
“The way forward is genuine collaboration that is realistic and achievable for Pacific law enforcement,” Commissioner Tudravu said.
He said the region was “fighting back” and that coordinated action was needed to reduce both supply and harm.
The summit, running from 18-21 May 2026, includes representatives from INTERPOL, the US Homeland Security Investigations, European maritime narcotics agencies, and law enforcement bodies from Colombia, Mexico, Thailand and several Pacific Island nations.
Officials also confirmed the creation of an International Joint Investigations Team based in Colombia, supported by AFP, New Zealand Police, Australian Border Force and NZ Customs, aimed at disrupting cocaine supply chains at their source.
Law enforcement agencies say the move is in response to increasingly sophisticated trafficking methods, including semi-submersible vessels used to move large quantities of cocaine across the Pacific.
Authorities reported that 17 tonnes of illicit drugs have already been seized this year, compared with 4.6 tonnes across the entire 2025 calendar year.
Officials warned that the sharp rise reflects both improved enforcement and an escalating threat environment driven by powerful narcotics syndicates adapting to international pressure.
The summit is expected to conclude with a Pacific-wide campaign encouraging communities to report suspicious maritime activity to authorities, as part of a broader intelligence-gathering effort to combat organised crime across the region.
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