Derek Maltz was Special Agent and former chief of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency – a component of the U.S. Department of Justice – from 2005-2014.

Mr Maltz has extensive experience in tackling transnational organized crime. From 2008 he led Project Cassandra – an ambitious U.S. led law enforcement campaign to target drug trafficking by Hezbollah. His expertise has been widely relied on by the US Congress.

During an exclusive CMEC event in the Houses of Parliament, Maltz spoke in detail about the large transnational networks and often local characters which help fuel the illegal drug industry and redirect funds towards terrorist networks elsewhere in the world.

Later, speaking to Conservative Middle East Council Director Charlotte Leslie, Maltz emphasied how this new evidence presents a challenge to law enforcement agents and policy makers around the globe and helps expose the extent to which recreational drug use, in Europe more often than not, inadvertently helps fund global atrocities.