David Leone Suber

David Leone Suber lectures on organised crime at the Center for Criminology, and is a member of Border Criminologies.

He completed his PhD in 2025 at the UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, researching survival strategies and adaptation dynamics of migrant smuggling groups vis a vis border enforcement measures, border violence and police corruption. He carried out extensive ethnographic fieldwork on the migration routes from West Asia (Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey), North Africa (Libya, Tunisia and Egypt) and the Balkan region (Greece, Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia).

David also conducts research on the smuggling of natural resources, cultural heritage and narcotics. He regularly contributes as a freelance journalist on international media and has produced award-winning multimedia investigations and film documentaries. He engages as a consultant for NGOs and law firms, and participates as a speaker and organiser of cross-sector and cross-disciplinary seminars at universities and think tanks across the Mediterranean.

David is currently starting new research on Syria's post-regime transitional phase, from the opening of known and secret prisons, to the management of justice, security and crime during the restructuring of government institutions and their legitimacy. He welcomes collaborations in this field. 

At Oxford he teaches courses on research methods, organised crime, criminal justice, borders, migration and citizenship.