Pacific Sub-Regional Cash Courier Workshop, July 2019, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
A Pacific sub-regional cash courier workshop was held on 8-12 July 2019, facilitated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), New Zealand Customs Service, New Zealand Police Service, and Oceania Customs Organisation (OCO), with coordination and support from the UFA, and hosted by the Government of the Cook Islands.
The workshop brought together 21 customs, financial intelligence and police officers from the Cook Islands, Fiji, and Samoa, to improve knowledge and skills to monitor cross-border movement of cash and bearer negotiable instruments.
It focused on skills to identify and interdict cash couriers, including the identification and confiscation of smuggled cash, enhancing real-time information sharing between jurisdictions, and building regional capacity for joint operations. It also included practical sessions using cash detector dogs, which are now operational in Cook Islands, Fiji, and Samoa.
The workshop also included two days of planning for a sub-regional operation targeting cash smuggling. The sub-regional operation will be held later in 2019 as a mentoring opportunity following the training course. It will be coordinated by New Zealand Customs, New Zealand Police and OCO, with support from the UFA.
The UFA secretariat would like to thank the Cook Islands for hosting the workshop, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for providing funding support for the workshop via UFA’s Pacific AML/CFT Capacity Development Programme, and the contributions from all experts and participants.
