The Trump Administration announced a series of initiatives that will encompass an investment of over $18 million to disrupt criminal networks in the Pacific, including $5 million to train financial units in cryptocurrency investigations as part of the PACIFIC program.
Key Takeaways
- The U.S. committed $44M to help Pacific nations combat organized crime and secure the maritime domain.
- A $5M PACIFIC program allocation will train regional officers in crypto tracing and digital forensics.
- The initiative updates local anti-money laundering laws to disrupt cartel digital asset money flows.
U.S. to Invest $5M in Crypto Training PACIFIC Initiative
The U.S. is tackling financial crime networks in the Pacific with real investment, targeting crypto as a tool that criminal actors can harness for money laundering.
As part of its participation in the first U.S.-Pacific Islands Conference of Police Ministers (COPMIN), the Trump administration announced a series of investments in various areas to support a joint Pacific nation response to organized crime in the theater.
The U.S. Department of State stressed that “the networks threatening Pacific communities operate as a single criminal enterprise. Each link in this chain depends on the others. Breaking the enterprise requires action at every link, starting where drugs and precursors first enter legitimate trade.”
Over $44 million was allocated to launch a cross-regional response to these criminal networks, securing the maritime Pacific domain, building enduring partnership effectiveness, and disrupting the flow of money managed by criminal networks in the area.
Nearly $18.2 million was destined to enhance the preparedness of Pacific nations, detect and thwart the money flows that support the operation of narcotic groups that operate in the Pacific area.
Of these, $5 million was destined for the Pacific Alliance for Combating Illicit Finance and Cybercrime (PACIFIC) program, which focuses on giving Pacific islands the tools to detect the use of digital assets in crime operations.
During PACIFIC, “U.S. federal agencies will train officers in cryptocurrency tracing, beneficial-ownership investigations, and digital forensics. They will also help update anti-money laundering and cybercrime laws consistent with Financial Action Task Force and Budapest Convention standards,” said the U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman.
Furthermore, PACIFIC will focus on updating the region’s anti-money laundering and cybercrime laws to be consistent with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Budapest Convention standards.
The Trump Administration’s actions are consistent with the focus put on targeting criminal organizations and cartels in Mexico, including the Sinaloa cartel, for using digital assets to launder money from the illegal sale of narcotics.
“PACIFIC protects the trusted digital economy that U.S. cloud and telecommunications programs are helping build across the region,” the office concluded.