ILLEGAL DRUG INTO THE FIRE : File photo of former Police Commissioner Fuaivailili Egon Neil joined by senior officers at the Tafaigata landfill where marijuana plants from police raids were destroyed by fire.
By Staff Writer
Photo caption: Threat of organised crime highlighted by this illegal cocaine shipment uncovered by New Zealand police on arrival in Auckland. RNZ Photo
Cocaine worth more than ST$100m tala (NZD$63m) seized a few days ago at Auckland Airport is adding more fears to the threat of organised crime in the island region that includes Samoa.
Samoan police are yet to make any official comments on the illegal drug haul in New Zealand but are expected to be monitoring all the details for policing work on the increasing threat.
NZ media reported that police arrested four men for the shipment of “…140kgs, or 1.4 million doses of cocaine off the New Zealand market.”
RNZ news reported the cocaine were “… concealed within a cavity of a container, which is understood to have originated in Ecuador and travelled through Panama to its final destination of New Zealand.”
The media report went on to say that “…three of the men were deported back to New Zealand in July and August 2023, and a fourth man is an Australian National who recently entered New Zealand as a visitor.
One of the chilling police findings from the failed drug shipment is the use of weapons when a gun equipped with a silencer was uncovered from the investigations.
Police believes there is now a “… trend of organised crime groups aggressively targeting and attempting to “rip” or take possession of the imported drugs while they are transiting through the port or other associated facilities”.
Organised crime in the region is a growing problem for law enforcement that independent support groups like Global Initiative against Organised Crime.
The Geneva based Global Initiative against transnational organised crime believes “…shifts in transnational dynamics are changing the region’s organised crime landscape.
“Organised crime can take many forms within the Pacific region.
“On the surface, it may appear that the region is faring well however, in addition to drug trafficking, low-tax jurisdictions such as Vanuatu are vulnerable to money laundering.
“Elsewhere, such as in the Marshall Islands, human trafficking is an ongoing risk.”
Police in Samoa are going through similar challenges with the focus on new illegal drugs such as amphetamine or meth added to the law enforcement landscape.
Police arrests a while back found chemical ingredients and equipment in a home to suggest a laboratory was set up to mass produce hard drugs like meth for sale.