U.S. Allocates $44 Million for Pacific Island Security, Launches Drug and Money Laundering Interception Network at Inaugural Police Ministers Conference

WASHINGTON

The U.S. Department of State held the first U.S.–Pacific Islands Conference of Police Ministers (COPMIN) in Los Angeles on October 21–22 (local time), unveiling over $44 million in new initiatives to counter transnational criminal organizations operating across the Pacific. In a fact sheet released on October 22, the State Department Spokesperson's Office announced plans to construct a regional maritime law enforcement training center in Palau, establish criminal intelligence-sharing projects with INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization (WCO), support Pacific police investigative capabilities through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and expand the Coast Guard's "Shiprider" joint interdiction operations. The conference was co-chaired by Vice Admiral Kevin Lunday, Commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area, and Jennifer Olegeriil, Minister of Justice of Palau.

State Department Holds First Police Ministers Conference, Stating Pacific Security Is Directly Tied to U.S. Homeland Safety

The State Department opened its fact sheet with the statement: "The United States is a Pacific nation." It cited figures showing that more than 1.9 million American citizens and nationals reside in Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and approximately 53 million live along the West Coast from California to Alaska. The State Department defined its commitment to the security of Pacific Island nations as a "key pillar" of its "America First Foreign Policy," stating that "When the Pacific Islands are secure, the American homeland is safer."

Convening the conference was a commitment made by the State Department at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) held in Palau on September 1. At the time, the State Department pledged to bring Pacific police ministers together to address shared challenges. The U.S. delegation was led by F. Cartwright Weiland, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). Ministers and senior officials overseeing police portfolios from Pacific Island nations, Australia, New Zealand, and France attended, joined by leaders from regional organizations, senior U.S. officials, law enforcement heads from the Western Hemisphere and Southeast Asia, and U.S. industry representatives.

State Department Views Drug Trafficking Rings as Crossing the Pacific as 'a Single Criminal Enterprise'

The State Department assessed that the networks threatening the Pacific community operate as "a single criminal enterprise." Precursor chemicals enter clandestine manufacturing facilities in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Southeast Asia, and cartels transport the finished products across the Pacific using couriers, international mail, commercial aviation, and semi-submersibles. The State Department stated that this entire pipeline is supported by large-scale money laundering. It also noted that since 2024, the volume of illicit drugs trafficked by Western Hemisphere cartels across the Pacific has surpassed flows originating from Asia.

The State Department emphasized that because each link in the chain relies on the next, action must be taken at every point, beginning where drugs and precursors first mingle with legitimate commerce. Under the direction of President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio, the State Department explained that the United States is stopping drugs before they reach shores, dismantling criminal networks that prey on American citizens, and protecting its investments in the Pacific by supporting regional institutions.

RIPTIDE with INTERPOL and WCO Connects the Pacific and Western Hemisphere for the First Time

The foremost project highlighted was the $4 million RIPTIDE (Regional Interdiction Partnership for Trafficking Intelligence, Disruption, and Enforcement). The State Department described this as the "first coordinated effort" targeting criminal organizations across the Pacific and the Western Hemisphere. INTERPOL will connect the police networks of its 196 member countries to link seizures back to broader investigations and their illicit financing. Drawing on the experience of 187 member customs administrations, the World Customs Organization will train Pacific interdiction officers in general aviation, international mail, and detector canine deployment—areas heavily exploited by traffickers—and funnel border control intelligence to investigators. The two organizations will jointly build an intelligence-sharing platform accessible to all participating nations while operating in a manner that complements existing intelligence-sharing efforts led by Pacific nations. The State Department stated, "For the first time, nations sharing the world's largest ocean will have a joint architecture to confront a shared criminal adversary."

Maritime Interdiction Hub to Be Established in Palau; Pacific Enforcers to Board Coast Guard Cutters

A $7 million Regional Maritime Law Enforcement Training and Coordination Center will be built in Palau. This center will serve as the headquarters for the Aumoana Regional Law Enforcement Initiative. It will train Pacific personnel in vessel boarding and search, evidence handling, and maritime domain awareness (MDA), while housing resident U.S. and regional liaison officers providing intelligence support across Pacific Island countries and U.S. territories. The State Department announced its intention to establish Palau as a regional maritime interdiction hub. During the conference, the United States and Palau signed a Letter of Agreement for law enforcement training and capacity building, which includes regional initiatives poised to benefit the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Approximately $5.5 million will be directed toward maritime surveillance networks. Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF-W) will provide more than $1.4 million in maritime surveillance equipment to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and Fijian maritime agencies, as well as install secure communications systems at the Pacific Transnational Crime Coordination Centre in Samoa. In Fiji, a boat ramp will be constructed to assist in interdicting illicit narcotics and cargo. The State Department will also equip four new patrol boats of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) National Fisheries Authority with electro-optical/infrared cameras, upgraded radar displays, and real-time data transmission equipment.

The U.S. Coast Guard will oversee the $4.5 million "Project Kanaloa." The project will provide training in small-boat operations, boardings and searches, fisheries enforcement, and the prosecution of maritime cases, alongside equipment support and the deployment of advisors to Pacific maritime police, customs, and fisheries agencies. The objective is to patrol expansive exclusive economic zones and help countries develop self-sustaining training capabilities. The Coast Guard is also expanding bilateral Shiprider operations. Under Shiprider agreements, Pacific enforcement officers board U.S. Coast Guard cutters to enforce their domestic laws across their own exclusive economic zones (EEZs). The State Department explained this approach expands enforcement reach into waters that no single nation could patrol alone.

FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and DEA Take on Investigations and Tracking Financial Pipelines

In the investigative sector, the FBI will manage the $5 million EPIC (Enhancing Police Investigative Capacity) initiative. Designed to assist Pacific police in investigating drug trafficking, bribery, money laundering, and cybercrime, the program features hands-on training, operational case mentoring, police liaison support, and FBI National Academy exchanges. The goal is to build a network of professionals capable of delivering cross-border investigative results. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) will lead the $2.5 million FORTRES border and port security initiative, deploying liaison officers, targeting trade-based money laundering and cartel-linked drug trafficking, and replacing screening equipment at priority ports. Joint exercises will also be held for Pacific border agencies and U.S. law enforcement to exchange intelligence in real time.

JIATF-W will invest more than $1.3 million to train investigators from Fiji, Tonga, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau in narcotics investigations, financial investigative techniques, and maritime operational planning. In Palau, two U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will be deployed to the Palau Bureau of Customs and Border Protection for 60 days in an advisory and support pilot program. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will operate the $450,000, three-year PINSR initiative, providing training and mentoring in narcotics investigations, financial crimes, forensics, and leadership, while supporting counter-narcotics curricula at regional police academies.

To sever financial pipelines, the $5 million PACIFIC (Pacific Alliance for Combating Illicit Finance and Cybercrime) initiative was introduced. U.S. federal agencies will train personnel from Pacific Island financial intelligence units and cybercrime investigative units in cryptocurrency tracking, beneficial ownership investigations, and digital forensics. Assistance will also be provided to revise anti-money laundering and cybercrime statutes in accordance with standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. The State Department stated that this program safeguards the trusted digital economy being built across the region by U.S. cloud and telecommunications projects.