FrontPage

Member Area

Wednesday

Aug 20th

FrontPage

The News

Law

Samoa spearheads monitoring of transnational crimes

Written by Cherelle Jackson
Friday, 13 June 2008
Transhipment of drugs, money laundering, people smuggling and child sex tourism are just some of the transnational crimes which will be monitored from Samoa. This is through the recently re-established Pacific Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (PTCCC) in Apia, Samoa. Opened on Monday on top of the Government Building of Samoa, the Centre will coordinate and analyse criminal intelligence data in the Pacific region. The PTCCC was first opened in Fiji in 2004, bringing together law enforcement, customs and immigration agencies from across the Pacific to tackle transnational crime however it has been relocated to Samoa to provide what Australia states: “a better resourced base for the network of Transnational Crime Units in various Pacific nations.” The decision to move the Centre to Samoa was made by a special committee made up of Police Commissioners from around the region. The Centre is supported financially by the Australian Government with special technical assistance by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The Australian Minister for Home Affairs Hon. Bob Debus was in Samoa for the opening of the Centre along with Australian Parliamentary Secretary of Pacific Island Affairs Duncan Kerr and the AFP Manager of Brisbane Office Commander Brian McDonald. Debus said: “The Australian Federal Police have invested heavily in supporting law enforcement in the Pacific region to combat crime and be self sufficient. The PTCCC is a vital component of this joint policing approach and provides a central point for the exchange of criminal intelligence, not only between Pacific nations, but also the wider international law enforcement community.” Samoa Police and Prisons Commissioner and Chair of the PTCCC Board of Management, Papaliitele Loranese Neru said intelligence gathered by the centre is used to target and profile organised crime groups. Papaliitele said Samoa is poised to make a difference in the region through PTCCC. “We are very fortunate to host the PTCCC in Samoa ,” he said. “Some of the crimes to be targeted include transhipment of drugs, money laundering, sexual paedophilia and pornography we will share intelligence and share experience, guided by PTCCC,” Papaliitele said. The PTCCC is led by an officer from the Tongan Police Force and staffed by Pacific Island law enforcement officers from Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Samoa. An AFP adviser will mentor the officers for the first 12 months. According to AFP Commander McDonald, AFP will assist the center in a number of ways. “Obviously the Australian Government has provided assistance but more importantly we will have some officers here to assist in the setting up of the centre, assisting staff and mentoring the staff,” he said. “You have to understand that this is not a one-way flow, certainly the Australian authorities and the AFP members also get quite a bit out of working with members from the Pacific Islands and the members of those Police forces as they bring skills and they bring abilities that we don’t see all the time so it is that interchange of skills and abilities and intelligence is very important for us. If you think about it in that context it is a true cooperative type of model,” Commander Mc Donald said. *More on Australian initiatives in the print edition of Newsline Samoa Newspaper. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Polls

The Land Bill ?

	Against it
	For it
	Need more info

US Presidential Elections

	John McCain
	Barak Obama
	Ralph Nader

Would you send your Aiga a RHD Car?

	Yep...I'm getting it ready now
	Yep....Sometime Soon
	Nope.....We dont have RHD Cars here
	Nope.....I'd rather just send money

Cece’s BingoTop 10 On Talofa FM

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

Google Satellite Map of Eveni Carruthers

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

FiaOla.com Featured Items

Before you buy, check out FiaOla.com for bargains

BARGAIN! INVESTMENT! Prime
Location 1/4 Acre Land & House

Land Rover Discovery.

Cook Island Pareo Dresses

	GYM SET
	Printing Business for Sale.

"Where the natives buy and sell"

--ADVERTISEMENTS--

Latest Comments

Rudolf Moves Onto the Semi Finals in Beijing
Well done Rudolf

and also to the rest of the team

Too Many Heart Complications Worry SMA President
Talofa to everyone.... very sad to hear about that brother died last week and also others are not r...

Aunese Gets Ready For His Event Tonight in Beijing
Faamalosi aunese! much support from vaiola college

Ele Opeloge Puts Samoa on the World Olympic Map
You did us proud ele..malo le tauivi

Ele Opeloge Puts Samoa on the World Olympic Map
Bien Echo(well done) I love to see my usos do well in anything; I remember my days on your island wi...

Social Network

Join the Newsline Team on Bebo

www.bebo.com/newslineS

Become part of the Newsline Bebo Network

Get News via your Email

Subscribe to Samoa Live News Headlines by Email

Get the Latest News on your Blackberry or PDA

Subscribe in a reader

Sounds from Samoa

Listen to broadcasts from LiveSamoa.com
Courtesy of Plantation Feet, SBC(540am) and
Radio Polynesia(99.9 FM)

http://www.samoalive.com/sliveradio.asx

Live on Weekdays from 8am to 9am

Have your Say

We want your Opinion

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
If you would like to submit a letter for possible
publication in the print edition of the Newsline,
please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

We want your News

Submit News from your Area
If you would like to submit News for possible
publication in both the online and print version
of Newsline please feel free to email us
at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Become a News Blogger
Have a passion for writing? Interested in
writing articles for Newsline? Email us
at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
We are looking for Bloggers from
around the world to contribute to our site.