Transnational unit curbs drug trade

PALIKIR, Micronesia, April 30 (UPI) -- U.S. Coast Guard officials said a new transnational drug trafficking patrol in Micronesia will help stabilize the entire Asian region.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, who commands the Joint Interagency Task Force West, said the Micronesia Regional Transnational Unit came into force April 23 to monitor the illegal drug trade in the Pacific region and promote information sharing across participating countries.

The Australian Federal Police is tasked with training the task force for its first year of operation and several countries from the Republic of the Marshall Islands to Kiribati will contribute officers.

"So this unit is really transnational in its composition," Zukunft told the U.S. Defense Department's media agency, American Forces Press Service.

"What we are trying to do is support a network that will support the multinational sharing of information, since a lot of these transnational crime activities are truly global enterprises," he said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International