The United States is bringing Pacific Islands police ministers and law enforcement leaders together to strengthen regional efforts against drug trafficking, cybercrime, illegal fishing and criminal networks operating across the Pacific Ocean.
The inaugural U.S-Pacific Islands Conference of Police Ministers (COPMIN), to be held in Los Angeles on 21–22 October, will focus on joint action against transnational crime, including narcotics trafficking, maritime security threats, online fraud and illicit financial networks.
The conference will bring together Pacific police ministers and law enforcement leaders, alongside counterparts from Ecuador and the Philippines, to address criminal networks exploiting the Pacific’s vast maritime area to move drugs and carry out other illegal activities.
The U.S State Department said narcotics networks were moving fentanyl precursors, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs into Pacific communities and the United States.
The networks were also involved in online scams, cyber-enabled fraud and money laundering through underground banking systems, while illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing continued to deplete ocean fish stocks.
“COPMIN will advance joint efforts to counter drug trafficking, strengthen maritime and port security, combat cyber-enabled fraud, and disrupt illicit finance,” the State Department said in a media note.
U.S Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday will co-chair the meeting with Palau Minister of Justice Jennifer Olegeriil and lead the U.S delegation.
Senior officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S Customs and Border Protection, the Department of the Treasury and other agencies will also participate.
The two-day programme will include a cross-regional roundtable involving Ecuadorian and Philippine Coast Guard representatives and Pacific and U.S officials to examine how trafficking and illegal fishing networks operate across the Americas, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Pacific officials will also visit the Port of Long Beach, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection will demonstrate drug detection technology and officials will explain measures to prevent criminal networks from infiltrating supply chains.
The United States said the conference reflected its direct security interests in the Pacific, including the protection of more than 1.9 million U.S citizens and nationals living in Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
“We are committed to working with our Pacific partners to protect Americans from transnational crime,” the State Department said.
“When the Pacific is secure, America is safer.”
The conference comes as Pacific countries face growing concerns about the movement of illicit drugs, organised crime, cyber-enabled fraud and threats to maritime resources.
The United States said the meeting would strengthen cooperation with Pacific partners to disrupt criminal networks and improve regional security.
