SYDNEY, Oct 11 (Askume) – Pacific island nations are at risk of becoming a hub for global criminal gangs because of their isolation and fragile economy, the United Nations anti-drugs agency said in a report released on Friday.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports that the region’s “threat environment” from drug and human trafficking, illegal fishing and wildlife theft, money laundering, and cybercrime is growing faster than at any other time in history.
Reports say the area is now home to American drug traffickers, Australian and New Zealand outlaw motorcycle syndicates, and Asian crime syndicates.
“The rapidly expanding criminal ecosystem in the Pacific region has attracted powerful transnational criminal networks from different corners of the world,” the report said.
“There are growing concerns that some parts of the region could become major hubs and bases for criminal groups engaged in illicit activities.”
Pacific island nations and territories, spread across thousands of kilometres of ocean, are particularly vulnerable because of their isolation and economic weakness, high levels of corruption and limited state capacity, the report said.
Many Pacific island nations have historically relied on foreign aid such as Australia for policing, an issue that has become a geopolitical one with China deploying police to the Solomon Islands in 2022. It also has officers in Kiribati .
Australia said earlier this year that China should play no role in policing the region and pledged to spend A$400 million ($270 million) to train and deploy police in the region.
Its ally, the United States, has also expressed concern about China’s influence in the region and said in August that it wouldWork with the region to track drug trafficking activities of criminal groups in China and Southeast Asia .
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