Jakarta (ANTARA) - The United States has unveiled a $44 million funding package to assist Pacific Island nations in combating transnational organized crime, with a primary focus on curbing illicit narcotics trafficking.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) F. Cartwright Weiland said that the initiative was announced during the U.S.–Pacific Islands Conference of Police Ministers (COPMIN).
"That includes $7 million for a new regional crime-fighting center in Palau, which will sort of facilitate maritime enforcement training," Weiland said during a virtual press briefing on Tuesday.
The funding will also be directed toward strengthening regional financial intelligence units (FIUs) and boosting cybercrime investigation capabilities across Pacific Island jurisdictions.
Washington initially rolled out its Pacific counternarcotics and border security assistance in 2021 with an allocation of $6 million.
Total U.S. security commitments to the region have since surpassed $60 million, underpinned by the opening of INL’s first permanent regional post in Suva, Fiji, in 2024.
Weiland explained that the ramped-up support comes in response to an aggressive expansion of drug-smuggling routes exploited by transnational syndicates.
By May 2026, law enforcement agencies across the Pacific had seized 17 metric tons of illicit drugs — more than triple the total volume confiscated throughout 2025.
Underscoring the shared urgency, Weiland cited data showing that nearly 68,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the latest reporting year, representing roughly 185 deaths per day.
He noted that Pacific Island communities are experiencing comparable devastation, with local psychiatric facilities overwhelmed by substance-abuse cases and unmanned vessels carrying cocaine increasingly washing ashore.
Highlighting the surge in criminal violence, Weiland pointed to an April 2026 incident outside Suva, where an on-duty police officer — the daughter of Fiji’s Minister for Defense and Veterans Affairs Pio Tikoduadua — was struck at a checkpoint by a vehicle driven by suspected drug traffickers and armed robbers.
She was recently discharged to continue her recovery at home after five months in intensive care.
“It’s stuff that has never before been seen on these islands. And the U.S. is concerned about it because the same groups that are trafficking drugs into our country are responsible for what's happening on these islands," Weiland said.
The inaugural COPMIN convened in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 21–22, bringing together delegates from the U.S., Pacific Island nations, Ecuador, and the Philippines.
Beyond narcotics interdiction, the ministerial forum focused on strengthening coordinated law enforcement against cross-border cyber scams, trade-based money laundering, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Reporter: Uyu Septiyati Liman
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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