Economic development and stronger borders must all be part of the region’s response to transnational crime, according to New Zealand’s Customs Minister.
Casey Costello, who is also the Associate Police Minister, says Pacific nations cannot arrest their way out of the organised crime threat facing the region.
She recently attended the inaugural Pacific Transnational Crime Summit in Fiji involving Police ministers, commissioners and officials discussing drug trafficking, human trafficking and organised crime.
She says the summit showed a shared understanding that the Pacific needs more than police enforcement to stop organised crime groups gaining ground.
“This is not something we’re going to arrest our way out of,” Costello told Pacific Mornings. “This is about better legislation, better supports, better interventions, strengthening our borders, all of those components.”
Costello says New Zealand’s message to the summit was that organised crime must be tackled across government agencies, not only by police.
She says health, immigration, customs, revenue collection and the justice system all need to work together. “All of these things have to work together to be effective,” she said.
The summit was held amid growing concern about the Pacific being used as a transit point for illicit drugs, as well as the risk of organised crime becoming more embedded in local communities.
Costello said Fiji was open about the consequences it is already facing, including drug-related health issues and HIV concerns.
“We know Fiji, and it was pretty impressive that Fiji talked about their issues, talked about the HIV challenges,” she says. “They were really open to saying, look, this is what it looks like when it goes wrong.”
But Costello said the region still has time to act and “turn the corner” on it. She says economic development also has to be part of the Pacific’s security response.
Costello says organised crime money can exploit people and communities under financial pressure.
“When you have economies that are really struggling, where you have people who are financially really vulnerable, therefore the idea of corruption has to be discussed because we’re talking about a lot of money that can be very distracting,” she said.
She said strengthening Pacific economies is one way to reduce that vulnerability.
“The economic development across the Pacific will be a crucial tool to combating this environment,” Costello said.
“So we’re not always talking about the negative. What are the positives we can deliver to support the Pacific?”
New Zealand Police Commissioner Richard Chambers, who also attended the summit, says organised crime is not only a Pacific problem, but a global one.
He said criminal networks will exploit communities wherever they see an opportunity.
“Organised criminal networks will take any opportunity to exploit our countries and our communities,” Chambers says. “Organised crime undermines the integrity and values of our countries.”
Chambers said drugs are only one part of the threat.
He said organised crime groups also target human trafficking, firearms, crimes against children, pollution, wildlife, fisheries and minerals.
“They’ll target anything that’s going to make them a dollar,” he said.
Chambers said New Zealand is helping move the response closer to the source of the drug trade.
He says New Zealand Police is establishing a post in Bogota, Colombia, and supporting an international joint investigation team based there.
The work is being done with New Zealand Customs, Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force.
