Media Release
U.S. Funds New Regional Transnational Crime Unit
April 25, 2008
Several regional partners gathered on April 23, 2008, to inaugurate the new Micronesia Transnational Crime Unit (TCU) at the FSM Capital Complex in Palikir, Pohnpei. The FSM’s new TCU is part of the Pacific Transnational Crime Network established to effectively combat transnational crime in the region. The network includes units in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Vanuatu, as well as the Pacific Transnational Crime Coordination Center in Samoa, which coordinates, analyses and disseminates law enforcement intelligence produced by the key regional stakeholders and clients. The new FSM facility is the culmination of joint efforts among the United States Government, the Commonwealth of Australia and the FSM National Government.
Since 2006, the United States’ Hawaii-based Department of Defense Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF West) has partnered with the Australian Federal Police and the FSM National Police to establish the TCU in Palikir. The United States provided $450,000 to renovate and equip the former FSM National Police training facility. The Chief of the FSM National Police will exercise day-to-day administrative and operational control of the TCU, which will also include top law enforcement officers from the FSM, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati. The TCU will enable Micronesia to leverage resources to combat transnational crimes, including terrorism, money laundering, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and sexual exploitation.