Illicit Trafficking
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Illicit Activity
Southeast Asian nations target security risk posed by scam centers
Peter Parson Southeast Asian nations are cracking down on scam centers, a global criminal enterprise committing hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud annually while abusing human rights and threatening regional security. Authorities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are disrupting the syndicates, arresting offenders and freeing captive workers. Recent efforts have targeted Myanmar’s southeastern Myawaddy region, where scam…
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Oceania
Allies and Partners boost deterrence, resilience in Palau
FORUM Staff Palau’s renewed Compact of Free Association with the United States in 2024 secured $890 million in economic assistance for the Blue Pacific nation, which has seen its tourism industry shrink due to economic coercion by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Equally important, the renewal reinforced the agreement on the joint use of ports, airfields and other sites…
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Partnerships
Japan-Philippines partnership deepens with police equipment grant
Maria T. Reyes Japan enhanced its strategic partnership with the Philippines in late November 2024 with an equipment grant to the Philippine National Police (PNP) for countering drug and human trafficking in the Indo-Pacific. The grant “cements our shared commitment and deeper understanding about our role as peacekeepers and agents of truth and justice,” according to PNP Forensic Group Director…
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Illicit Activity
France deploys surveillance aircraft to enforce U.N. sanctions, deter illicit North Korean actions
FORUM Staff France demonstrates its commitment to security and stability in the Info-Pacific by annually deploying assets to uphold and enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions to deter North Korean nuclear proliferation. In October 2023, the French Polynesian Armed Forces’ Falcon Guardian, a maritime surveillance aircraft based in Tahiti, arrived in Japan to support the multinational Enforcement Coordination Cell (ECC).…
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