Transnational Crime Unit – Tonga

Introduction

Over the last decade, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has increased its co-operation with police forces in neighbouring countries, with a specific focus on challenging transboundary criminal activity (eg smuggling of drugs and guns, money laundering etc). The AFP has built a network to establish Transnational Crime Units in member states of the Pacific Islands Forum, with a Pacific Transnational Crime Co-ordination Centre (PTCCC) in Suva, Fiji.

Government sources

Security Environment Update, Attorney General’s Department, 8 May 2007

“The AFP is currently working with Solomon Islands counterparts to establish a Solomon Islands Transnational Crime Unit and over the past year has assisted Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea and Micronesia to establish Transnational Crime Units within their police forces.”

Fiji fights transnational crime, Media release, Australian Embassy, Suva, 28 March 2006

“A new Computer Based Training Centre (CBT) has been opened at the Fiji Police Academy in Suva in a regional effort to counter transnational crime. The centre, which is a joint venture between the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), was officially opened by the Australian High Commissioner. The training packages available through the CBT Centres are specifically designed to enable law enforcement officials to enhance their skills, knowledge and awareness at their own pace, using state of the art multimedia and interactive computer based law enforcement training packages. To date, six CBT Centres have been established in the Pacific Region, including Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.”

Meleane Taueli, Planning and Development Team, RAMSI website

“Meleane Taueli’s work in the Tongan Police is quite different from what she has experienced in the relatively short time she has so far spent in the Solomon Islands, but it is no less rewarding. As an inspector in the Tongan Police’s Transnational Crime Unit, Meleane’s day was filled with the research and analysis of intelligence concerning major criminal activity affecting not only Tonga but the wider Pacific region. This is a role she has performed over the past three years and before that she worked in administrative positions at police headquarters in Nuku’alofa. In her PPF role Meleane has been working in the Planning and Development Team at GBR.”