Methamphetamine trafficking and use are becoming a rising concern across the Pacific, with recent cases and official statements from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Solomon Islands highlighting both the scale of the threat nationally and existing significant institutional gaps.
Based on a number of news articles from around the Pacific region between 2025 and 2026, it indicates that Pacific Island countries are countering the issue of drug trafficking networks while also struggling to strengthen legal, border control and the public health limitation within respective pacific island jurisdiction.
A news article published by Radio New Zealand in June 2025, reported the arrest of police officers in Papua New Guinea following a meth-related raid. A senior office quoted that authorities were “actively separating the bad apples from the good”. However, this is also an indication of how vulnerable Pacific Islands authorities can be compromised when facing such issue related to meth. Such issues can undermine the trust of the public to responsible agencies in tackling such issues.
Moving on to Fiji, news in relation to meth trafficking has become a recurring topic. According to a report by the ABC News, a high court judge describes those involved as “Sophisticated drug cartels”.
The statement speaks loudly for itself as it indicates that it is an organised international operation. Respective authorities have increased border surveillance and prosecutions; however, experts caution that continuous pressure and intelligence-sharing with other pacific countries will be critical to preventing Fiji from becoming a transit location for meth distribution within the Pacific.
Moreover, in Tonga, an ABC Pacific report in January 2026 highlighted a judge’s warning that meth poses an “existential threat to life in Tonga”. Such statement coming from Tonga’s judiciary stresses the emerging danger of the drug to its social and economic wellbeing.
Socially, community leaders in Tonga have raised issues arising from the use of drug including family breakdown, theft and youth vulnerability related to the consumption of meth. Law enforcement agencies continue to pursue importation and distribution cases however with limited resources.
In addition, reports from Samoa by RNZ in December 2025 had shown that their responsible authorities have seized meth twice within two days where customs and police remain committed to identifying and crackdown on drug networks.
Responsible authorities in Samoa have mentioned that there are attempts to move methamphetamine through Pacific entry points where traffickers test multiple routes including our cargoes, maritime freight and postal services as well.
Now moving into the Solomon Islands, in August 2025, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Solomon Islands warned publicly that existing legislation contained gaps, noting that under current law, possession or manufacture of methylamphetamine was not clearly criminalised in some contexts.
Also, reports of several narco boats occurring within a year in Solomon Islands waters raises a concern as well highlighting distribution network of drugs within the territory’s borders.
There was also discussion about urgent law reform. Legal experts have since called for updates to drug schedules, clearer definitions, and strengthen investigative powers to match modern trafficking approaches in relation to meth distribution.
As we understand, here in the Solomon Islands the Bills & legislation committee held hearings for responsible agencies to amend the Dangerous Drugs Act (Cap. 98) covering issues of penalties for those caught under the drug distribution.
Therefore,despite different national contexts, some of the common issues discussed among jurisdiction within pacific island countries include;
Border vulnerabilities; where Pacific nations manage vast maritime zones with limited surveillance capacities. This would be made effective with the right technology and regional cooperation to monitor and respond to distribution network of drug traffickers.
Outdated legislation; most of the drug laws within Pacific Island countries are outdated and need to be upgraded to effectively respond to the emerging drug crises currently occurring in the region.
Official integrity risks, also another common issue, is evident in that Meth trafficking can expose corruption risks within enforcement systems such as the case in PNG.
Also, there is limited rehabilitation services where most pacific island countries rely heavily on policing responses, with fewer organised treatment and prevention programmes for drug victims.
Data limitation is another common issue in relation to the issue in the Pacific Island countries where comprehensive, up to date national data on meth use is not available in each jurisdiction. The sentiment by opposition leader of the Solomon Islands Matthew Wale that “we’re living in the dark” referring to responsible agencies’ lack of data for decision making during the Bills and legislation committee is a classic example.
Going forward,governments across the Pacific have reaffirmed their national commitments to strengthening border controls and regional collaboration. However, enforcement alone will not be effective with limited technical ability to monitor and track, unavailability of technology and under-resourced authorities will always pose a gap within enforcement approach in the Pacific Island region.
In most of the Pacific Island countries jurisdiction, such as the Ministry of Health in Solomon Islands emphasise the need for prevention campaigns, youth engagement programmes, community education and rehabilitation services alongside criminal prosecutions in partnership with responsible agencies.
As methamphetamine cases continue to surface in courts and at border checkpoints, Pacific Island countries face mounting pressure to update existing laws, strengthen institutional responses and coordinate responses beyond national boundaries through regional partnership.
Photo credit: Supplied
