New Zealand is among the countries facing growing concern a gang-related killing spanning multiple nations signals an escalation of organised crime networks across the Pacific.
Last week, two men living in Samoa were arrested in Vietnam following the killing of Australian gang "Coconut Cartel" leader Lamalu Lorenzo Tovia outside a Ho Chi Minh City restaurant. The shooting, captured on CCTV, left Tovia dead and an associate, Sauni Sam, in a critical condition.
Vietnamese police later arrested Samoan nationals Joseph Vaa, alleged to be the gunman, and alleged accomplice Steve Tofa near the Cambodian border.
Both suspects, surrounded by police, gave public confessions. Eight Vietnamese nationals were also arrested, accused of helping the pair flee after the killing.
Leading transnational crime expert Associate Professor Jose Sousa-Santos, from Canterbury University's Pacific Regional Security Hub, says a red flag in this case is the degree of control and coordination by external forces within Australian and regional syndicates.
He said there was talk of up to $1.5 million being offered as payment for the hit.
"This kind of money can get you influence at all levels of society in the Pacific — this shows you what level these cartels are playing at, and it also shows how difficult it will be for Pacific Island nations to counter criminal entities such as these which have such deep pockets."
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers, who had just returned from a transnational crime summit in Fiji which included police chiefs from around the region, told 1News it was very concerning that organised criminal networks continued to exploit the Pacific to further their own business model.
"We all agree that the enablers of organised criminal activity include technology, violence and corruption — which is a particular issue for the Pacific region — and so as chiefs we've been talking about what we can do differently to address some of those enablers," he said.
"We have to work together, because no single Pacific nation is going to be able to deal with this threat on their own."
Sousa-Santos has been publicly warning about the growing influence of gang and cartel activity in the region for years.
"We have seen the development of the influence of external formal entities — cartels, the triads, Australian syndicates and New Zealand syndicates — in the Pacific over the last decade," he said.
"What we are now seeing play out, which we've been raising the alarm about for five to ten years, is linked to the issues of deportees to the Pacific, drugs smuggling through the region, the growth of drug markets within the Pacific itself, and the fact that within Australia the larger syndicates have utilised Pacific Islanders as foot soldiers."
Sousa-Santos said when these issues were raised five years ago there was time to put systems in place, but the Pacific regional security architecture was not strengthened as it should have been.
"So now we are playing catch-up, and we will be playing catch-up for the next decade. I think now is the time Australia, New Zealand, the US and France need to work with the Pacific and realise this is the final stretch in the game," he said.
"Pacific governments and law enforcement have identified holes in their own institutions and in the security infrastructure. Australia and New Zealand need to listen and be able to assist in finding specific, partner-supported responses to these identified issues — and not push responses which might be a one-size-fits-all approach."
Samoa Police are working with external law enforcement agencies on the Vietnamese killing. The Samoan nationals arrested in Vietnam travelled through Fiji to get there. Their bank accounts in Samoa have been frozen, along with others, including those linked to a luxury rental car company they were associated with.
Together with Vietnamese police, they now face the tough task of connecting the dots in what is proving to be a complex, multinational investigation.
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