David Leone Suber

David Leone Suber is a postdoc Leverhulme research fellow at the Centre for Criminology, a member of Border Criminologies, and one of the co-leads of the Global Crime and Justice Hub.

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

David also researches the extraction and smuggling of natural resources, looting of cultural heritage and trafficking of 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-disciplinary seminars at universities and think tanks across the Mediterranean region.

In his current position as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, and an Associate Member of St Anthony's College, he is conducting 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 from fellow researchers, journalists and students.