The Pacific’s cocaine highway: will Australia’s $600m deal really help?
With Australian and New Zealand demand for cocaine as strong as it is, it’s hard to know how much $600 million will do to stop the flow of drugs.
The Australian government has unveiled a $600 million program aimed at bolstering aerial and maritime surveillance throughout the Pacific region, targeting the growing issue of drug trafficking via narco-submarines and smaller vessels. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement during the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau.
This new initiative, known as the Waqa Moana, seeks to address the significant surge in drug trafficking to and through the Pacific, particularly with Australian authorities seizing 17 tonnes of illicit drugs in the region since January 2025, compared to less than 5 tonnes in all of 2025.
The funding for this deal is divided between several key initiatives, with $49 million allocated to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for enhancing counter-transnational and organized crime programs in the region, in addition to the AFP's existing $140 million contribution to support regional security objectives over the next four years. The remaining $312 million will be directed towards the Department of Defence for a ten-year period, aimed at combating transnational and organized crime in the area.
Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, Pat Conroy, emphasized the devastating impact of drug trafficking on Pacific communities, stating that the initiative responds to regional leaders' calls for increased regional coordination to tackle this issue. Beyond drug trafficking, the program also aims to address the erosion of social cohesion and the health burden associated with cocaine and methamphetamine use in island communities.
The Pacific region has become a significant halfway point for transnational drug smuggling due to several factors. Firstly, the region's scattered 25,000 islands, with around 2,000 inhabited, make policing challenging, with porous maritime boundaries and limited surveillance. Secondly, traffickers have numerous entry points, such as narco-subs capable of beaching and unloading cocaine without detection, and remote landing strips enabling "black flight" importations via small twin-engine planes.
Thirdly, the region's remoteness allows syndicates to store cocaine and methamphetamine, selling some locally and holding the rest until opportune moments for onward shipment to Australia and New Zealand. Lastly, the islands' remote nature facilitate the storage of drugs before moving them into the markets of Australia and New Zealand, while also contributing to increased violence and health issues stemming from drug use.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
