Not that long ago, Pacific island nations such as Fiji, Tonga, and Somoa rarely had drugs more potent than marijuana. Today, "they are mired in addiction crises" of cocaine and meth, reports New Lines. The reason is that Mexican cartels have joined with New Zealand gangs to create what Sean Williams and Kevin Knodell describe as a fast-growing "Pacific Drug Highway." The big markets are New Zealand and Australia, but smaller island nations are stops along the way. In short, "Latin American drug lords are using the same currents and trade winds that islanders have relied on for centuries to connect and expand their colossal, criminal empires," they write.
The story details in depth the operation, which sometimes makes use of private yachts to smuggle drugs through the ocean corridor: "For some pleasure craft sailors, moving drugs is a way to subsidize their lifestyle." It also suggests that the major factor leading to the new drug trade is a surprising one: a 2014 Australian law allowing the deportation of noncitizens for vague "character" reasons. That led to thousands of New Zealand men who belonged to outlaw motorcycle gangs being sent back to their home country. These men—called 501s for the new section of the Migration Act—"took over ethnic gang turf back in New Zealand" and began looking to ramp up drug operations.
The 501s "brought quite a different dynamic and threats to the criminal scene in New Zealand," says one customs official. They already had ties to Mexican cartels through their biker gangs such as the Comancheros, and the ties have grown. Another factor: New Zealand deported its own 501s to smaller island nations, and they became cogs in the system. (Read the full story, which predicts the Pacific smuggling will expand exponentially over the next five years.)
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