Turning the tide together
- The surge in the trafficking, availability and use of methamphetamine across Pacific Island countries is explosive, fuelling an escalating epidemic of HIV, and undermining human, national and regional security.
- Tackling transnational organised crime and rapidly scaling up HIV surveillance, prevention, treatment and care are regional and national priorities for law enforcement and public health.
- There is a pressing need to design, trial and implement community-based harm reduction approaches that are Pacific-informed and draw on cooperation between health, law enforcement, community leaders and civil society organisations.
- A 2027 Pacific Islands Forum-led regional summit, bringing together ministers, the health sector, law enforcement, civil society, community, and religious and traditional leaders, would align national efforts and support the development of an integrated Regional Synthetic Drugs Strategy, for Leaders’ endorsement.
Executive summary
The surge across the Pacific
The Pacific region is experiencing a severe and rapid escalation in methamphetamine trafficking and domestic use, transforming from a transit zone into a significant consumer market and, to some extent, a site for local production.
This surge, driven by transnational organised crime syndicates, has created a public health and security crisis. Fiji, Tonga and Papua New Guinea face acute challenges, while all Pacific Island countries are experiencing emerging and interconnected impacts.
At the local level, methamphetamine use is compromising the health and wellbeing of individuals, driving crime and violence, and disrupting the social cohesion of communities. Local leadership structures are being challenged, and health and law enforcement infrastructure severely tested.
Turning the tide together
The methamphetamine crisis has clear implications for health, safety and security. It touches both the non-traditional and traditional security domains. An effective response will require coordinated leadership across health, security, civil society and traditional governance structures.
There is precedent for these regionally led efforts in response to a crisis impacting all Pacific Island countries. In 2020 the Pacific Islands Forum invoked the Biketawa Declaration to establish the regionally coordinated Pacific Humanitarian Pathway on COVID-19. This necessitated high-level political leadership that resulted in the implementation of coordinated health and security sector partnerships and protocols.
A 2027 Pacific Islands Forum-led regional summit would underscore the threat of methamphetamine trafficking and use to human and regional security. It would be consistent with Forum Leaders’ holistic approach to security set out in the Boe Declaration, the Regional Transnational Organised Crime Disruption Strategy and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
The summit would bring stakeholders together to develop a Regional Synthetic Drugs Strategy for consideration by heads of government at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting later in 2027.
In conversation with
Lautoa Faletau
International development consultant
Dr Audrey Aumua
Chief Executive Officer, The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ
Ross Ardern
Former senior diplomat and police officer
About the Pacific Security College Policy Paper Series
This paper is published by the Pacific Security College, in collaboration with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC). It reflects the views of the authors alone and isn’t an official statement on behalf of the College, its funders, GI-TOC or the Australian National University. The Policy Paper Series aims to contribute a diversity of views and ideas to the regional conversation about the journey to 2050.
