Auckland (The NZ Today)
Associate Police Minister Casey Costello has been handed responsibility for driving New Zealand’s cross-government response to transnational and organised crime, as authorities confront increasingly sophisticated criminal networks involved in drugs, money laundering and people trafficking.
The Government confirmed on Thursday that a new Transnational, Serious and Organised Crime Chief Executive Board will be established to bring major agencies together under a more coordinated system.
Costello will have ministerial responsibility for the board and the wider cross-agency organised-crime work programme. Official Cabinet delegations confirm the role sits within her existing position as Associate Minister of Police, rather than creating a separate formal “Minister of Organised Crime” portfolio.
The move follows growing concern about international criminal organisations targeting New Zealand for drug trafficking, financial crime and other illicit activity.
It was reported that an expert ministerial advisory group had described organised crime as New Zealand’s “No 1” national security threat and warned that the response had suffered from fragmented leadership across numerous government agencies and ministers.
The group recommended putting one minister in charge of driving the response and holding agencies accountable.
Costello said organised crime groups were becoming increasingly sophisticated and were actively looking for weaknesses in New Zealand and across the Pacific.
The new board will be co-chaired by Police Commissioner Richard Chambers and Comptroller of Customs Christine Stevenson, with other senior government agency leaders expected to take part.
Rather than establish a completely new organised-crime agency, the Government has opted to use existing agencies and resources.
Costello told the NZ Herald this would allow the Government to move faster without creating another layer of public-sector bureaucracy.
One of the priorities will be improving information sharing between agencies — an issue identified as a major weakness in previous efforts to disrupt organised criminal networks.
The Government also wants to progress policy and legislative work dealing with areas such as criminal proceeds, hidden company ownership and businesses that shut down only to reopen through new entities.
New Zealand has seen increasingly large drug seizures at the border in recent years, while authorities have also investigated corruption and insider threats linked to organised crime.
The Government says the challenge requires Police, Customs and other agencies to work as one system rather than pursuing related problems separately.
Costello said the aim was to establish clear priorities and make agencies accountable for delivering them.
Sources: New Zealand Government/Beehive
