Virtual Press Briefing with F. Cartwright Weiland, Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

MODERATOR: Good morning from the U.S. Department of State's Asia Pacific Media Hub. I'm Tim Johnson, and it's my pleasure to welcome journalists to this on-the-record briefing. Today, we're honored to host Cartwright Weiland, Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

With that, let's get started. Mr. Assistant Secretary, I'll turn it over to you for your opening remarks.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to join you all, especially about such an important subject. Last week in Los Angeles, the United States hosted its first U.S.-Pacific Islands Conference of Police Ministers. By our acronym, that's known as COPMIN. It was the first meeting of its kind to bring together such a large number of police ministers from across the Pacific to meet with U.S. officials and law enforcement in one place. The U.S. Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Kevin Lunday, co-chaired the conference with Palau Minister of Justice Jennifer Olegeriil, and I led the State Department delegation.

Why we met? Well, before May of this year, authorities across the Pacific had seized 17 tons of illicit drugs. That's more than three times as much as in all of 2025. That's a huge and very frightening increase, at least from our perspective. And as every police commissioner knows, what we catch is only a fraction of what gets through.

In the U.S., nearly 68,000 Americans died of overdoses in the latest year we have figures for. That means that almost 185 American families learn every day that someone they love isn't coming home. This is a tragedy that is not only America's problem; increasingly, it's also the Pacific Islands' problem. And if you're not tracking what's going on there, you need to start because it's extremely alarming from the United States perspective.

We're talking about psychiatric wards being full for the first time. We're talking about school children sniffing glue on school buses. We're talking about boats with cocaine on board washing up on shore. We're talking about children of ministers of government being run over by narcotraffickers who are blowing through checkpoints on the road. It's stuff that has never before been seen on these islands, and the U.S. is concerned about it because the same groups that are trafficking drugs into our country are responsible for what's happening on these - on these islands.

And so the criminals are relying on the long distances between the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and their - and these small nations, and they're trying to exploit those gaps by moving illicit products through Pacific waters and ports. And they also are supporting some of the scam networks that are targeting not only American citizens, but also citizens in those countries.

So what are we doing about it? Well, as I mentioned, last week's conference charted a path forward. Ministers that attended from many of the island nations watched U.S. technology detect drugs in some of the cargo at the Port of Long Beach. They also went out with the U.S. Coast Guard on the waters outside of Los Angeles to learn how to better stop criminals. And they traveled to FBI and DEA offices to see how the U.S. has tackled similar challenges. Finally, they met with the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team to see how they have addressed emerging threats and complex crimes.

At the conference last week, we announced $44 million in new programming. That includes $7 million for a new regional crime-fighting center in Palau, which will sort of facilitate maritime enforcement training and also help financial intelligence in cybercrime units across not only Palau, but also other Pacific jurisdictions. And these commitments are building on a growing record.

It wasn't that long ago, in 2021, when my office - the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement - set up shop in the Pacific with a $6 million investment in 2021. That was the first time that we entered the region. But now, just five years later, our investment exceeds 60 million. So that's a 10x increase. And in 2024, we opened our first section, which - office, that is, in Suva, and we plan to expand that in coming years and are in the process of doing so.

But back to the conference. We did - we hosted it because no other - no country can carry the burden by itself. America, as you all know, is a Pacific nation. Not only do we have states like California, Oregon, Washington State, Alaska that border the Pacific; we also have territories in the Pacific, states in the Pacific. This includes Hawaii, Guam, and the like.

And so we came to this conference not trying to lecture anyone. We understand that all of these nations are sovereign and they know their own communities far better than we do. But what we did want to showcase and offer is our partnership, our friendship. And that manifests itself through a variety of security systems, including training, equipment, advisors, information sharing, working through whatever the relevant Pacific institution happens to be.

And what we discussed is the fact that these criminal networks, many of whom have origins in the Western Hemisphere, they want the United States and all of these Pacific nations and Australia and New Zealand - they want us to be divided, with each country sort of out on its own. And so by coming together, we showed them that we want to make the Pacific the hardest place on Earth for criminals to do business.

And so hopefully that gives you a sense for why we all gathered in Los Angeles last week. And obviously, the true success of the conference will be not only meeting itself, but also what comes next. So anyway, thank you again for joining today. I'm happy to take your questions. Over.

MODERATOR: Thank you. We'll now turn to the Q&A portion of today's briefing. Our first question goes to Rahim Rashidi of Kurdistan TV, if you could unmute yourself and go ahead.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MODERATOR: Rahim, if you could go ahead with your question.

QUESTION: Yeah, this (inaudible).

MODERATOR: I think we're having connection issues, but I understand Rahim would like to ask: "What is RIPTIDE? How will it help stop drug trafficking? And what support will the U.S. provide to Pacific Island police forces?"

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Thank you, appreciate that. Yeah, no, I'm having a difficult time hearing him. But RIPTIDE is one line of effort the U.S. is engaged in in the Pacific that we spoke about during the conference. And essentially, it's the first of its kind. It's a way that we are connecting security assistance efforts in the Western Hemisphere with those in the Pacific. And usually security assistance in those two regions are thought of independently. Countries, including the United States, will think of, let's say, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico quite differently and distinctly from, let's say, Fiji. But what we're increasingly finding is that what's happening in Fiji is frequently a reflection of what's happening in the Western Hemisphere countries, especially when it comes to drugs and crime.

And so RIPTIDE is the first coordinated effort against criminal enterprises that span those two regions that I mentioned. Right now, we're investing $4 million in the initiative. And this will allow for partners from across the Pacific and the Americas to shape how intelligence is shared between the two regions so that when one of the regions learns something important about one of the drug trafficking organizations, that that can quickly be disseminated to counterparts in the other region. And so with this information-sharing regime, we will partner with Interpol, perhaps the World Customs Organization, and others to connect the different countries' systems, essentially.

So hopefully that gives you a sense for what RIPTIDE is all about. Over.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question goes to Uyu Liman of ANTARA in Indonesia, if you could please (inaudible). Uyu Liman, if you could unmute yourself and go ahead.

All right, I see Uyu Liman submitted the question in the chat. I'll read it out loud. I'm not sure if there are connection issues. "The Philippines had joined this year's COPMIN. Will this partnership be expanded to Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries next year? Is there any ongoing talks with other Southeast Asian countries regarding the partnership? And what contributions are expected from the Philippines as well as broader Southeast Asian countries in this partnership?"

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Well, thank you for that question, and I'm sorry you're having connection difficulties. I was in Indonesia a number of years ago and admire and greatly respect all of the government interlocutors that I met there.

As to your question, I mean, I think the future of our engagement with the Pacific nations is somewhat unclear, but I think that everyone that I've talked to within the USG thinks that our engagement will only grow. So I can't speculate necessarily about the future participation of other countries. But as you know, the Philippines joined COPMIN this year and they brought a tremendous amount of experience countering illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, as well as their own experiences strengthening maritime security, which are challenges that the Philippines faces, Indonesia faces, and various other countries share as well. And so that's why the conference included a cross-regional roundtable with the Philippine Coast Guard, which we're very excited and privileged to include.

But yeah, we welcome continued engagement with partners across the Pacific and the Americas who share our goal of disrupting these transnational criminal networks that threaten our shared security. And we're not asking necessarily for the Philippines or for the broader region to contribute specific amounts or specific equipment or training or whatnot. But certainly, there is a similarity between the Philippines and Indonesia as far as they're both archipelagic nations, and they have similar experiences when it comes to maritime domain awareness and maritime domain management.

And so the fact that the Philippines is now engaged certainly speaks to a future in which similar nations may become involved as well. Over.

MODERATOR: Thank you. We received a pre-submitted question from Villamor Jr. Visaya from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, who asks: "Is there a Treasury component beyond law enforcement and Department of State collaboration? How are narcotics networks tracked and have they grown into multinational-like entities?"

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Well, thanks for that question. I mean, we're very pleased that the U.S. Treasury Department sent representation to the - to the conference. I actually moderated a panel with a colleague from Treasury, but I think that absolutely there's a Treasury component insofar as whoever these groups are that are trafficking drugs from the Western Hemisphere across the Pacific have to rely upon financial transactions in order to make that possible.

And the U.S. Treasury Department, in conjunction with various international interlocutors, both inside foreign governments but also on the international plane, bring tremendous experience when it comes to financial intelligence. And that's how you go after these groups: by having those capabilities. And so what we're trying to do right now is make sure that these smaller island nations that traditionally just have never had the need for sophisticated financial analytic tools have what they need and that are trained on the latest, most cutting-edge tools that the private sector has to offer, make sure that they have those tools so that they can do things on their own. They don't need us to sort of manage their own affairs. They're entirely capable of doing so.

So what we're trying to do in conjunction with our partners like Australia and New Zealand is just make sure that they're aware of and can receive the tools that the private sector, that the U.S. Treasury Department and so on have that can allow them to track the money flows and go after the money launderers that are facilitating a lot of this criminality. Over.

MODERATOR: Thank you. We received a question in the chat from Michael Miller of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, who notes: "We've seen some recent arrests of Latin Americans connected to big drug busts in the Pacific. Are you seeing particular Latin American drug cartels growing in presence in the Pacific? If so, which cartels and how is that presence growing? Are they moving into new countries and using new or different tactics?"

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Well, that's a - that's a very important question, absolutely. I don't know that, necessarily, we have it entirely figured out yet. There's certainly, as I've alluded to, connections between Latin America and the Pacific nations when it comes to criminal groups that are operating.

As far as specific ones, I don't know that we have a sense entirely. I know that we were all very pleased that Ecuador sent representation to the conference in Los Angeles because I think it goes to show that some of the nations on the Pacific side of South America are aware that there are semi-submersibles that are increasingly capable of traversing not just short, but now long distances across the Pacific into some of the island nations. And so I would certainly point to some of the Ecuadorian groups that appear capable of some of that - some of that activity.

But as far as established presences on the islands themselves, I don't think we're seeing, for example, like, chapters of cartels sort of being established on these islands. It's more along the lines of the cartels have interlocutors, have distributors, have contacts on the islands that they are able to rely upon to move the drugs or to sell the drugs. But it's a - it's a very dynamic, evolving situation and with time we may have a better sense for is it Sinaloa, is it CJNG, is it Los Lobos, Los Choneros, et cetera, et cetera.

So, yeah, sorry I can't give a more definitive answer, but again, this is such a new phenomenon that the islands have just never sort of seen before that we're still - and by "we" I mean both the United States and these nations - we're still trying to wrap our heads around it. Over.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Sorry, it looks like we may be having some connection issues, but we should be back online. Our next question goes to Lahiru Doloswala from The Morning Newspaper in Sri Lanka, who asked: "Does the U.S. see any links between the criminal networks targeted by RIPTIDE and drug trafficking networks operating in South Asia? If so, what specific cooperation with South Asian law enforcement agencies is being considered?"

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Sorry, could you repeat that last part? What connection?

MODERATOR: Yes. "What specific cooperation with South Asian law enforcement agencies is being considered?"

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Well, thank you for that. I mean, interesting question. INL supports training for various South Asian maritime law enforcement entities to disrupt illicit trafficking networks throughout the Indo-Pacific. And that link that South Asia may have to global drug markets, again, is still coming into clarity. I think that there are certainly money launderers that are Chinese-based that we are aware of. And we've already alluded to the Latin American connections.

As far as specific cooperation with South Asian law enforcement, I mean, that was the basis for the whole conference. And so we're already working with essentially every law enforcement agency in the Pacific, but INL has sections throughout South Asia as well. And so it's hard to predict how the evolution of those relationships will work itself out.

But INL is very blessed and very fortunate insofar as it has an established presence at almost every major U.S. embassy throughout Asia, not only in the Pacific but also in mainland Asia. And so I think as time goes on, we will come to begin to connect some of our INL connections in places like Thailand, Cambodia, for example, that are already working on a lot of the scam center issues and the sexual exploitation issues with some of what's developing now in the Pacific, because our sections in those larger embassies on mainland Asia, they have more experience that is now unfortunately transferable to the smaller Pacific nations that are just starting to see some of this criminality that has not been witnessed previously.

So in any event, we have resources, we have personnel in various parts of the continent, and as time goes on, I think they'll be able to help each other more because they're all seeing a different side of this problem. Over.

MODERATOR: Thanks. We have time for one more question and it will go to Mereoni Mili of Fiji Television, if you could please unmute yourself and go ahead. Mereoni, are you able to unmute yourself and ask your question?

QUESTION: Can you hear me?

MODERATOR: Yes. Can you - can you go ahead?

QUESTION: Thank you. So you mentioned about expanding in Suva. Would you be able to elaborate on what that will look like, and also the work with the authorities here in Fiji in terms of tackling drug trafficking, considering our large EEZ and the challenges the Fiji Navy is facing in tackling those drug traffickers?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Sure. I mean, the large EEZ is maybe the most important aspect of this problem to realize and to sort of consider. And we're trying to address that through a variety of maritime domain awareness tools. I mean, these are mostly technological in nature, but that will allow the Fijis of the world and various other nations that have a very small fleet of boats to monitor their EEZ. It'll give them an increased ability to see virtually what else is going on out there on the high seas in an effort to be better able to interdict ships and detect shipments of illicit drugs that are being trafficked.

And so a lot of what we're providing is technology that allows Fiji and others to acquire that maritime domain awareness. And I can't get into specifics about which tools and which companies we're using, but I think that they're similar to other tools that are being used in places like Latin America that are seen. They're EEZ is exploited by not only criminals, but also the illegal, unreported fishers that are depleting their stocks of seafood and whatnot. And so it's really by utilizing technology that we're able to give them the tools that they don't have as yet. Over.

MODERATOR: Thank you. And now, Mr. Assistant Secretary, I'll turn it back to you if you have any closing remarks.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Thank you very much, everyone, for joining us. It's about 9:30 p.m. Washington time, so I'm going to turn in soon. I just put my kids to bed. But I just want to thank you all again for joining us. I just want to reiterate something I said at the top, which is I - at least from the Americas perspective - don't think that enough attention is being paid to what's happening in the Pacific. I mean, you're seeing crime rates, you're seeing anecdotal evidence of violence and drug consumption that you've never seen before in these places. And that was reiterated to me when I was in Los Angeles at this conference [last] week.

So it's the view of the U.S. government that from a geopolitical perspective, we really can't ignore the insecurity that we're now seeing at some of these - on some of these islands, which is not to detract from the very noble and very capable efforts that these law enforcement entities on the islands are illustrating. But it does mean that from an American perspective, we need to pay more attention than we have in the past to what's going on, because increasingly, the cartels and the narcoterrorists that are inflicting great harm on the Americas, and the U.S. specifically, are now reaching their tentacles into the Pacific.

And because of the shared nature of the problem, it's just common sense for the United States to form and foster a working relationship with these great nations, which, by the way, have such a storied tradition of both warriors and wayfinders that they bring to bear on this problem. I mean, that's something I talked about in Los Angeles - the fact that these nations are known to possess great valor in terms of the warriors in their history, but also great knowledge and perception of the world, frankly, when it comes to the wayfinders who were able to navigate great distances across the Pacific by their location of the stars and the moon and various other natural happenings. And the fact that these great nations and territories are a part of that same tradition I think speaks to their sovereign ability to tackle these challenges that are new, but, in certain respects, similar to ones that they've faced throughout their history.

And so we as the United States are there in a supporting role. They know their countries, they know their communities much better than we do. But as I alluded, what they're seeing is an extension of what we're seeing in our country. And so it really just makes sense for us to become connected in ways that, for better or for worse, we just haven't been in the past.

And so this event in Los Angeles was hugely significant, at least from my perspective, and I hope that it will continue. I don't know necessarily that we have plans in the works for a COPMIN 2.0, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that there was great desire for this not to be the [only] conference and for us to build on this perhaps as soon as next year.

So in any event, I don't want to ramble on too long. I want to respect you all and your time and your schedules. But thanks again for your interest. Please do reach out to INL anytime in the future that you may have questions about this or other drug or crime-related topics. We're always happy to jump on. And I wish you the best for the rest of the day. Over.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. That concludes our briefing. If you have any feedback or further questions, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Thanks again for your participation and we hope you can join us for another briefing soon. Take care.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY WEILAND: Thank you.

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