IISS October report links four crime hubs to ASEAN security threats
An IISS report links four Southeast Asian crime hubs to scams and trafficking, as customs officials propose intelligence sharing and joint action.
- An October report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) identifies four major crime hubs in Southeast Asia: the Golden Triangle, Myawaddy, Sihanoukville, and Poipet.
- These hubs create regional security threats by combining various criminal activities, including online scams, human trafficking, money laundering, and illicit trade, a concept the report calls "criminal convergence."
- The report highlights that these criminal networks operate across borders, moving people, money, and information, and sometimes have links to armed groups, posing a complex security challenge.
Four Southeast Asian crime hubs are bringing together online scams, human trafficking, money laundering and illicit trade, creating a regional security challenge that extends beyond conventional border threats, according to an October 2026 report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The IISS findings highlight how criminal networks move money, people and information across borders, with links to armed groups adding to the security risks. Customs officials and industry representatives discussing the report in Bangkok called for closer regional cooperation to tackle these interconnected activities.
Published on October 22, the report, Borderless Global Threats: Criminal Hubs and Regional Security in Southeast Asia, was presented at the Asia Security Conference & Exhibition 2026 in Bangkok on October 26. The event brought together customs agencies, regulators and industry representatives from several countries to discuss responses to illicit trade.
IISS identifies four regional crime hubs
IISS identifies four locations where different criminal activities have become concentrated, creating risks that reach beyond national borders:
- Golden Triangle: A former centre of the narcotics trade that has developed into a base for multiple forms of crime.
- Myawaddy: A centre for online scam networks and human trafficking.
- Sihanoukville: A rapidly growing port city where criminal networks have established a presence.
- Poipet: A border city and casino centre associated with cybercrime, human trafficking and money laundering.
IISS describes the overlap between drug trafficking, human trafficking, illegal gambling, money laundering and online fraud as “criminal convergence”. These activities can share transport routes, financial systems and networks of interests, making them harder to address as separate problems.
Under the IISS framework, concentrations of overlapping criminal activities can develop into “criminal hubs” capable of exerting influence across borders. The security challenge therefore involves more than individual offences or isolated criminal groups.
Thailand is not identified as a separate principal hub, although the Golden Triangle spans parts of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. Thailand’s location, transport connections and border crossings link it to these networks and expose it to the effects of their activities.
Philippines proposes stronger ASEAN customs cooperation
Emmanuel Luis D. Licup, deputy commissioner of the Philippine Bureau of Customs, outlined proposals to strengthen regional enforcement during the Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN chairmanship.
“As ASEAN chair, the Philippines will do more,” Licup told the conference.
Licup proposed expanding intelligence exchanges between ASEAN customs authorities, conducting joint customs-control operations focused on tobacco and vaping products, and regularly reconciling export and import data.
Licup also advocated common ASEAN requirements for export inspections to ensure that shipments comply with the laws of their destination countries.
The Philippines would strengthen domestic controls over economic zones and transshipment, while making cooperation between government agencies and businesses more systematic, Licup added.
Licup indicated that the Philippines intended to pass this agenda to Singapore when it assumes the ASEAN chairmanship in 2027.
Conference participants propose an ASEAN task force
The panel discussion, “Strengthening ASEAN Customs Cooperation: Intelligence Sharing, Joint Enforcement & Cross-Border Collaboration”, examined how closer coordination could improve enforcement against illicit trade while facilitating legitimate commerce.
Conference panellists argued that criminal networks exploit differences between national laws and limitations in enforcement capacity. Localised crackdowns were therefore insufficient to disrupt activities organised across several jurisdictions.
Using the illegal cigarette trade as an example, conference participants proposed a dedicated ASEAN task force to address a specific category of illicit trade. The proposed body would bring together experts from ASEAN member states and partners outside the region, including US Customs and Border Protection and relevant Australian agencies.
Conference participants described illicit cigarette trading as a hybrid security threat with economic, public-health and national-security consequences. They urged governments to raise awareness of those connections and reflect them in policymaking.
Conference panellists called for controls covering production, exports and goods moving across borders, alongside requirements for manufacturers and exporters to comply with destination-country laws.
The panel’s proposed approach would extend ASEAN cooperation across the supply chain, addressing illicit trade at its source as well as in the markets where illegal products are sold.
