Episode #160 High Truths on Drugs and Addiction with Derek Maltz and Law Enforcement Perspectives

Episode #160 High Truths on Drugs and Addiction with Derek Maltz and Law Enforcement Perspectives

High Truths on Drugs and Addiction

What can we learn from law enforcement and our current drug crisis? Derek Maltz has become a leading spokesperson on behalf of parents whose children died of fentanyl. Listen to what he has learned over a long career in law enforcement. What seems as compassion to people who use drugs can actually be cruelty to victims as well as the person with a substance use disorder. Derek S. Maltz retired from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) after 28 years of dedicated service and is currently working for PenLink Ltd as the Executive Director, Government Relations. Mr. Maltz is also a National Security, Public Safety Executive who appears on national and local news networks, radio, podcasts, and testifies at U.S. Congress as a subject matter expert. Mr. Maltz works tirelessly to support families around America who lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning and to educate the public on this escalating public health and security threat. Mr. Maltz was the Special Agent in Charge of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Special Operations Division (SOD) for almost 10 years before he left the federal government. Mr. Maltz also previously held the position as the Chief of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, which is the oldest and largest drug task force in America. As the Agent in Charge of SOD, SAC Maltz was instrumental in growing SOD from 9 to 30 participating agencies, including personnel from the U.K., Canada, Australia, and the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Mr. Maltz oversaw the operations of approximately 500 SOD personnel and was responsible for an annual budget of $100 million, while incorporating the DOJ’s priority International Organized Crime and Gang Operational Programs into the center. Mr. Maltz played a vital leadership role in developing and implementing DOJ’s and Department of Homeland Security’s nationwide de-confliction program to better synchronize the criminal law enforcement efforts around the world. SOD was responsible for leading the coordination of the high-profile multi-agency efforts that resulted in the capture of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel Kingpin El Chapo Guzman. Mr. Maltz was also featured on CBS 60 Minutes, NBC, and CNN in response to SOD’s role in the tremendous law enforcement success against the Sinaloa Cartel. SAC Maltz formally established the Counter Narco-Terrorism Operations Center (CNTOC) in January 2007. Since its establishment, the CNTOC successfully coordinated several significant narco-terrorism operations, including the identification of the Lebanese Canadian Bank as a facilitator involved with an international trade-based money laundering scheme supporting Hezbollah, and a subsequent U.S. Treasury Patriot Act 311 action. This was the first time a 311 action was used in this manner in conjunction with law enforcement on a drug case. This unprecedented event ultimately led to a $150 million seizure as part of the Hezbollah drug and money laundering initiative named Project Cassandra. Mr. Maltz appeared several times on Fox News and other networks to discuss this well publicized and impactful worldwide enforcement action against a very significant terror organization. SAC Maltz also enhanced SOD’s Bi-Lateral Global Investigations Unit at SOD from 1 to 5 highly successful field enforcement groups. These proactive investigative groups demonstrated unparalleled success in targeting and prosecuting some of the highest level criminals in the world, such as the arrest and conviction of notorious arms trafficker Viktor Bout; the arrest and conviction of arms trafficker and terrorist Monzer Al Kassar, alleged mastermind behind the Achille Lauro hijacking; the capture and conviction of Haji Juma Khan, reputedly Afghanistan’s biggest drug kingpin with ties to the Taliban and the leader of one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in the Central Asia Region; the capture and conviction of Afghan heroin kingpin Haji Bagcho; the arrest and conviction of K