Darrell is professional and a highly experienced Drug Expert Witness, having spent time investigating the illegal drug supply arena from user dealers supplying a £10 bag of skunk to international conspiracies trafficking millions of pounds of class A, B and C drugs he has acquired an extensive knowledge of all facets of the illegal drug trafficking industry. Having completed the National Crime Agency Drug Expert Witness course in 2010 he has produced approximately 550 Expert Witness statements and Streamlined Forensic Reports, he has also read and quality assured hundreds of statements and valuations for officers who carry out the role of a Drug Expert Witness within the Metropolitan Police Service.
In January 2016 he became the first full time Drug Expert Witness Officer within the Metropolitan Police and took a leading role in setting up the Metropolitan Police Service Dedicated Drug Expert Witness Unit. This involved the recruitment of a number of officers, a training program, mentoring program, continued personal development, planning external development seminars, quality assurance of expert reports and setting procedures to collate identifiable prices of drugs being offered at within London.
He has completed Cyber Crime training covering the fundamentals of computers / networking, The Cloud, The Dark Web, Encryption, Hashing, Crypto Currency and Social media Networks. He has completed The National Crime Agency surveillance course, The National Crime Agency Expert Evidence in Drug Trafficking course, a 6 week course run by Kings College University London titled ‘Understanding Drugs and addiction’. He has completed an online 12 week cannabis production course (Denver University, USA 2016) and is familiar with the following methods in relation to the production of cannabis; Aeroponics, Autopot system, Bubbler Pot system, Dripper system, Flood and Drain, Nutrient Film Technique and more basics sets ups. He implemented a system whereby he was informed of any cannabis cultivation sites identified within London and attended where possible, to assess the facility to identify changing trends and growing techniques. These sites range from small tents with single figure quantities, up to thousands of plants within a multi stage growth facility.
Darrell has been involved in hundreds of interviews in relation to a range of drug related offences, and has searched numerous houses, buildings, sheds/garages, boats, caravans, cars and offices often finding and seizing large quantities of drugs, cash and drug related paraphernalia used for wrapping, supplying, cooking, adulterating and consuming drugs. Drug ledgers and accounting documentation (tick lists) which are designed to keep account of the commodities in question, the associated income/expenditure and debts attributed to people involved, along with mobile communication devices these are but a few items often identified, seized and interrogated for evidence within these investigations.
Having worked at all levels of the drug supply chain he is aware of what evidence is required to prove a wide variety of drug related offences. Darrell can give his opinion on the value of the drugs at the point of seizure, and the representative value of the drugs to the person in control of the them. The level of ownership often comes into question, in respect of where the drugs are within the supply chain at the point of law enforcement interception, be that person(s) an importer, courier, store man, end user dealer or a user this can often be easily explained based on the evidence.
Darrell has led numerous investigations into Organised Criminal Networks involved in the importation of class A, B and C drugs into the UK from various parts of the world. He has carried out covert proactive/reactive investigations into offences involving Heroin, Cocaine, Crack, Crystal Meth, Amphetamine, MDMA, Ecstasy, GBL, Ketamine, Khat, different forms of Cannabis and many other class A, B and C controlled substances along with cutting agents. He has been involved in hundreds of operations/investigations either as the OIC, disclosure officer, telephones officer, exhibits officer, intelligence officer, surveillance officer, test purchase cover officer and many other duties has given him a deep understanding of the drug markets, arenas and techniques employed by Organised Criminal Networks working at the highest levels of drug related criminality down to the end user and supplier.
Darrell knows that drugs are totally integrated at all levels of society and the normalisation of drug consumption and supply can be seen on social media on a daily basis, it is also realistic to suggest that everyone knows someone who has consumed one illegal drug or another. He proactively identifies and interacts with people at all levels of society who recreationally use drugs to gain an insight into specific drug arenas and cultures, he knows current trends, consumption methods and quantities which are often purchased for either batch buying, social supply or personal amounts to be taken over a number of days or weeks.
Chemsex is a growing drugs arena and Darrell has regular interaction with the London Club drug Clinic from which he has gained a wealth of knowledge regarding the drug culture associated to this arena. Having spoken with the staff and clients he has a greater understanding of the most frequently used drugs “Methamphetamine (Tina), Mephedrone (Mcat) and GBL (G)” and what takes place within the “Chemsex environment” and specifically why there may be so many individual quantities of drugs within a specific address.
Darrell produces independent, professional and fair opinion based statements on the evidence with which he is supplied. Darrell resigned from the Metropolitan Police Service in 2018 and now leads Drugs Expert Witness.com.