Turaga warns of organised crime threat in prisons

Fiji's prisons could be exploited by transnational criminal networks if proper safeguards are not maintained, says Minister for Justice and Acting Attorney-General Siromi Turaga.

Mr Turaga made the warning while opening the two-day Pacific Dialogue on Transnational Organised Crime and Corrections at the Holiday Inn, Suva, today.

The conference is co-convened by the Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

It brought together corrections officials from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Tonga, alongside UNODC representatives.

"The correctional institutions can themselves be affected by organised criminal networks," Mr Turaga said.

He said this could happen "if appropriate safeguards were not in place."

Mr Turaga said Fiji's vast maritime space and limited resources created vulnerabilities that criminal networks could exploit, stressing that no single country could tackle the problem alone.

UNODC Pacific Regional Advisor on Transnational Organised Crime Megumi Hara said the region had shifted from being a transit point to becoming "an operating environment" for global crime syndicates over the past decade.

Ms Hara said successful arrests and prosecutions were already changing the make-up of Pacific prison populations and that more high-risk and drug-related offenders were expected behind bars as a result.

"Where a custodial system is under-resourced and overstretched, prison might consolidate a criminal report rather than help to dismantle them," she said.

She warned prisons risked becoming places where criminal recruitment continued.

This could happen unless corrections agencies shared intelligence with police, prosecution and border agencies.

Both speakers called for stronger regional information-sharing.

They also urged investment in rehabilitation, warning that people leaving custody needed support to avoid returning to criminal networks.

The dialogue continues tomorrow, with a session dedicated to Pacific-to-Pacific cooperation.

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