The smuggling of illegal drugs, such as this consignment of cocaine seized in French Polynesia, is on the rise in the Pacific, according to a report delivered to the New Zealand Government. Photo / Ofast
By Kaya Selby of RNZ
As the threat of organised crime looms large over the Pacific, New Zealand is being warned that the region serves as a cautionary tale and a direct source of risk.
This is according to a report delivered to Associate Police Minister Casey Costello by the Ministerial Advisory Group on Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime, a group she set up in February 2025.
“The discovery of multi-tonne methamphetamine shipments in Fiji and the arrest of high-ranking officials in Tonga underscore the scale of the problem,” the report states.
“These developments are not isolated; they are part of a broader pattern of transnational criminal infiltration that increasingly implicates New Zealand, both as a destination and as a contributor through deportations and economic ties.”
According to the United Nations, the Pacific has traditionally been used as a corridor for drug shipments between two production and consumption hotspots – Southeast Asia and Central America. Drugs are smuggled and transited across the Pacific Ocean in massive quantities via planes, yachts and ships.
But thanks to the involvement of police and customs officials in the islands, much of that product never reaches its destination.
According to the Ministerial Advisory Group report, it instead ends up on island streets, where the ease and prevalence of this drug supply has incensed an addiction-fuelled demand, which in turn fuels a greater supply, and so on.
“While there are variations between different Pacific nations, many share common forms of corruption, including bribery, nepotism, cronyism and political corruption.
“Drug cartels from the Americas, organised crime groups from New Zealand and Australia, as well as Asian criminal networks, are all increasing their involvement in the Pacific. Fiji, in particular, has emerged as a key transit point for major drug shipments.”
In January 2024, authorities in Fiji seized almost five tonnes of methamphetamine in raids on two houses in Nadi, whereupon a police officer tried to scoop up crystals from the scene.
Less than a month later, in Tonga, a senior Reserve Bank official was arrested after police seized 15kg of meth at their home and office.
More recently, in January 2025, Samoan authorities intercepted 10kg of meth, which the Samoan Observer described as “the largest known drug smuggling operation” on the island.
Costello said the Government’s response to the recommendations will be made in due course.
“While we maintain high standards and enjoy low corruption, we can’t be naive or complacent in this space.”
As far as New Zealand is concerned, the report says the country’s obligation to assist the region goes beyond a moral one.
“[There is] a very practical reason to do so, as the Pacific is a front door for the physical trade in illegal goods to New Zealand.”
Associate Police Minister Casey Costello told RNZ it was important New Zealand supported its economic growth and viability.
“When people are poor then the amount of money you need to corrupt someone is relatively low.”
Costello said the solution lies in “leaning in more” on current support measures. For her, that means strengthening customs services and excise duty collection from legitimate trade, and continuing existing support measures.
Currently, that consists of the provision of drug-sniffing dogs and handlers, training Pacific personnel in Aotearoa, and intelligence capacity with staff members deployed in the islands.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told RNZ Pacific in May that island police leaders had asked for more help from New Zealand, and that they were prepared to continue current levels of assistance.
Costello said she has been advised the police will increase funding for staff deployment overseas, as well as support to the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police.
“The revised amounts for the 2025/26 financial year will be reported as part of the 2025/26 supplementary estimates document.”
University of Canterbury associate professor Jose Sousa-Santos said the Government isn’t doing enough to engage with the Pacific on these issues.
“It’s very much looking at the issues in the Pacific from a New Zealand-centric lens.”
Pacific island nations want to be respected and trusted when they engage with the international community, and to build that means to build capacity for vetting government officials, Sousa-Santos said.
Right now, the world views developing nations in the Pacific with suspicion, he said.
“Currently, due to the lack of vetting security, intelligence cannot be shared and joint operations are minimal. That not only takes away the mana from Pacific neighbours, but it also compromises regional security.”
With the United States ramping up deportations, Pacific islanders in the country are getting swept up, which the report acknowledges.
“American deportations are set to make the problem significantly worse,” it says.
“Recent initiatives focused on deportations are set to create a Pacific tsunami, with somewhere around 1000 deportations set to occur, with 500 arriving in Fiji alone.
“The inflows of high-level criminality within small populations will always create problems, but these are exacerbated in the Pacific by cultural norms.”
While exact numbers are not available yet, TVNZ reported in February that 350 migrants from Fiji, 150 from Tonga and 57 people from Samoa, among others, have been earmarked for deportation.
It was enough to draw Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to the US House of Representatives to raise concerns about the safety risk it poses to his country.
Sean O’Niell, a senior State Department official for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told RNZ the nations these deportees are destined for should not expect any help from the United States.
“With respect to aliens who are returning to their country of origin, as a general matter, that’s the responsibility of that country,” he said.
“The United States does continue to provide foreign assistance... much of that assistance might be geared towards addressing specific needs of an entire population, but I’m not aware of anything that’s addressed to that now.”
The report acknowledges Pacific nations are nervous about whether they will be able to handle that influx, coupled with existing criminal deportations from Australia and New Zealand.
Beyond a lack of ability to handle the population increase, Sousa-Santos said the return of criminals means the strengthening of criminal networks in the region.
“We are sending some who have been incarcerated for serious crimes. We’ve been able to create links to outlaw motorcycle gangs and drug importing syndicates who have been able to deal with the darker side of their community.
“When they get deported, they don’t have the same support systems in place. They find it hard to reintegrate back into into the society and communities in their own countries.”
– RNZ