Mark Micallef leads a team of GI-TOC analysts and experts researching organized crime in North Africa and the Sahel region with the use of a field network of more than 160 monitors, comprising local journalists, researchers, and academics, established in Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, southern Algeria, Niger, Chad, Mali, and Sudan. He is an investigative journalist by background and, as a researcher, specializes in human smuggling and trafficking and armed group dynamics with field experience in Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia.