Australian police launch task force to target Pacific drug trafficking
Canberra: Authorities on Friday launched a new task force to target organised criminals trafficking illicit drugs into northern Australia from Pacific nations.
A statement from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the police force in the northeast state of Queensland said that the North Queensland Joint Organized Crime Task Force (JOCTF) would counter the growing threat of criminals sourcing methamphetamine and cocaine stockpiled in the Pacific, Xinhua news agency reported.
It said that the task force will target organized criminals engaged in trafficking through the Torres Strait, the body of water that separates northern Queensland and New Guinea, to protect vulnerable communities and Australian sovereignty.
“We believe there are tonnes of illicit commodities that have been stockpiled in the Pacific over many years, giving onshore and offshore organized crime syndicates reliable and easy access to dangerous drugs on the doorstep of Australia,” AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.
She said that there is a growing concern among leaders of Indigenous communities who inhabit islands in the Torres Strait that more of their youth are consuming illicit commodities because of the increase in trafficking.
In addition to drug trafficking, the AFP said that the new JOCTF would identify and prevent sexual servitude, forced labor and people smuggling.