Page 18 - IB January 2023

Drugs Drugs

THE NEXT GREAT SIN

DRUG TRADE ON THE RISE

By Netani Rika Zealand, Fiji’s drug enforcement capabilities have improved
tremendously.
Between Mexico and Australia is 165 million square kilome- But regional drug trafficking is controlled by Chinese and
ters of ocean. Asian syndicates, Mexican and South American cartels, Austra-
In that vast expanse of sea, travelling west and far from the lian organised crime, New Zealand organised criminal groups
eyes of police, navy and other law enforcement agencies, a and local gangs.
precious cargo finds its way through porous borders into the Some local gangs have financial and technical backing of
lives of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders. organised crime syndicates, including Australian and New
Until the 1990s, Pacific Island countries were mere hubs Zealand motorcycle gangs.
in the trans-Pacific drug trade. Small, uninhabited islands In 2018, Tuvalu Finance Minister Seve Paeniu was head of
became staging points where drugs were hidden by crews the Oceania Customs Organisation and told Islands Business of
operating mainly out of the United States. his concerns that these gangs had moved to Fiji after a crack-
Yachts on apparently innocent voyages through the Pacific down in their home countries.
would pick up packages and continue the run to Australia and With maritime borders which stretch for miles and few as-
New Zealand. sets to patrol the sea, the Pacific is quite literally the world’s
Now, drug laboratories have been found in Fiji and Tonga soft underbelly and wide open for illegal business.
where methamphetamines are produced for the local and Law enforcement agencies in the region have battled for
international markets. years with illegal transnational activities at sea.
And, with an increasing number of Pacific islanders exposed “We have maritime issues not only with illegal fishing but
to the drug culture while they work overseas, officials have transfer on the high sea (of fuel and other supplies), all those
serious concerns about health systems which are woefully illicit activities through the waters (open seas),” Paeniu said.
inadequate to handle addicts. In the early 1990s police uncovered the transfer of contra-
Between 2017 and 2021, Fiji police seized FJ$5.6 million band cigarettes to Chinese fishing ships on the high seas for
(US$2.59 million) of methamphetamines, mainly at post of- transportation to Fiji for sale.
fices and at Customs posts. But this is believed to be a mere Unable to hit the offending vessels at sea, police used tax
fraction of the value of this business. evasion laws to crack down on shops and market stalls selling
Research shows that Fiji recorded an increase from 148 the cigarettes.
drug-related cases (including arrests for cocaine and heroin) With its porous borders, need for foreign investment and
in 2009 to 1400 arrests in 2018. In 2009 there were two meth- weak law enforcement agencies, the Pacific fits the profile for
amphetamine cases and in 2018 the figure stood at 113 such transnational criminals dealing with drugs, arms smuggling,
cases. human trafficking and money laundering.
There is no doubt that with help from Australia and New Once a link in the supply chain, the Pacific has become

18 Islands Business, January 2023