Prohibition Does Not Work Appoints Former INTERPOL Assistant Director Michael Ellis as Principal Global Advisor

Prohibition Does Not Work (PDNW) today announced the appointment of Michael Ellis MSc, former Assistant Director of Police Services at INTERPOL, as Principal Global Advisor on Illicit Trade and Organised Crime , strengthening the campaign’s global expertise on illicit trade, organised crime, and the real-world consequences of prohibitionist policy.

With more than 45 years of experience in international law enforcement, including leading INTERPOL’s global programme on illicit goods and counterfeiting, Ellis brings frontline operational insight into how black markets emerge, adapt, and thrive under prohibition-driven regulatory regimes. His appointment will support PDNW’s research, policy development, and international engagement on the unintended harms of prohibition.

“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Michael Ellis to Prohibition Does Not Work,” said Tim Andrews, founder of PDNW. “Few people in the world have Michael’s depth of real-world experience confronting illicit trade at the international level. His career at INTERPOL and beyond gives him unmatched insight into how prohibition fuels criminal markets, empowers organised crime, and undermines both public safety and economic resilience.”

Ellis will contribute to PDNW’s research agenda, drawing on decades of operational enforcement, international coordination, and capacity-building work to demonstrate why blanket bans and prohibitionist approaches consistently fail to achieve their stated objectives.

“Illicit trade continues to plague our world, threatens the health and safety of consumers, jeopardizes economic prosperity and ultimately stifles innovation,” said Michael Ellis. “Stakeholder collaboration and transparency are critical in creating new safeguards in an ever-changing landscape of security threats.”

Andrews added that Ellis’s experience is particularly valuable in grounding policy debates in enforcement reality rather than theory. “Michael understands, from first-hand experience, how criminal networks exploit bans, regulatory blind spots, and enforcement asymmetries. His work will help PDNW show — clearly and credibly — why prohibition does not work in the real world, and how smarter, harm-reduction-based policy can do better.”

Ellis emphasized the human cost of illicit markets and the broader criminal ecosystems they sustain. “The ultimate victims of illicit trade are those consumers who receive poor-quality goods at an excessive price while being exposed to health and safety dangers,” he said. “Governments lose out on evaded taxes while organised crime groups re-invest illicit profits gained from these crimes into other criminal activities, including human trafficking, narcotics, money laundering and terrorism.”

As  Principal Global Advisor on Illicit Trade and Organised Crime, Ellis will work with PDNW to develop evidence-based analysis, advise policymakers, and support international partners seeking alternatives to prohibition-driven approaches that have repeatedly failed to suppress illicit markets.

About Prohibition Does Not Work

Prohibition Does Not Work is an international policy initiative examining the unintended consequences of prohibitionist regulation and advocating for evidence-based, harm-reduction approaches that protect consumers, weaken criminal markets, and promote economic and social wellbeing.

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