U.S boosts Pacific anti-drug funding to $44 million
The package includes US$4 million for RIPTIDE, an intelligence-sharing initiative linking the Pacific and the Americas.
Wednesday 28 October 2026 | 05:30
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka with Pacific Police Ministers at the inaugural Pacific Transnational Crime Summit on May 2026.
The United States (U.S) has announced US$44 million (FJ$99 million) in new programmes to fight drug trafficking in the Pacific, including US$4 million (FJ$9 million) for RIPTIDE.
This was announced by U.S Assistant Secretary of State Frank Weiland yesterday in a virtual briefing with reporters.
RIPTIDE is a system with Interpol and the World Customs Organization to share intelligence between the Pacific and the Americas.
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Mr Weiland said the money was announced at the first US-Pacific Islands Conference of Police Ministers in Los Angeles last week.
He said RIPTIDE was “the first coordinated effort against criminal enterprises” spanning the Pacific and the Americas.
Other announcements:
- US$7 million (FJ$15 million) for a maritime training centre in Palau
- US$5 million (FJ$11 million) for police investigation training through the FBI
- US$5 million (FJ$11 million) to track cryptocurrency and money laundering
Mr Weiland said US spending in the Pacific had grown from US$6 million (FJ$13.5 million) in 2021 to more than US$60 million (FJ$135 million).
He said the crisis was serious. “If you’re not tracking what’s going on there, you need to start because it’s extremely alarming from the United States perspective,” he said.
He listed full psychiatric wards, schoolchildren sniffing glue on buses and boats with cocaine washing ashore, but named no country.
Asked which cartels were involved, he said: “I don’t know that necessarily we have it entirely figured out yet.”
He said cartels used local contacts and distributors rather than setting up “chapters” on the islands.
A joint statement from the conference said drugs moved through the Pacific by Western Hemisphere cartels have outweighed those from Asia since 2024.
“We want to make the Pacific the hardest place on earth for criminals to do business,” Mr Weiland said.
