Chinese Crime Syndicates Fuel Drug and Sex Trafficking in Pacific Islands

Chinese organized crime groups are expanding their reach across the Pacific, with growing involvement in drug trafficking and prostitution operations.

In Fiji, Chinese syndicates have been linked to brothel operations and human trafficking. According to the Global Organized Crime Index (2023), these foreign groups are among the primary actors behind sex trafficking in the country, often operating under legal business fronts.

In Palau, authorities have deported dozens of Chinese nationals since January 2025 in a crackdown on transnational crime. According to The Australian, these individuals were involved in online scams, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and international money laundering — including people listed on Interpol’s red notice database.

Tonga has also been affected. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime reports that Chinese crime groups have long been involved in drug smuggling and prostitution there. Notably, Tonga’s first-ever human trafficking conviction in 2011 involved a Chinese woman running a brothel and smuggling Chinese women into the country.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned that Pacific Island nations are at risk of becoming hubs for global criminal syndicates. They note increasing threats from meth trafficking, human smuggling, illegal fishing, money laundering, and cybercrime.

In response, the United States has announced plans to work more closely with Pacific countries to curb narcotics smuggling. As reported by Reuters, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell confirmed that Chinese criminal networks are using the Pacific as a waypoint to ship meth to the U.S., citing rising drug seizures in both Fiji and Tonga.

As these networks grow bolder, regional leaders are under pressure to strengthen enforcement and coordinate with international partners to fight back against this wave of transnational crime.