Director General

Colonel (Ret’d) Desmond Theodore Edwards is the Director General of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA).

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A graduate of Clarendon College, Colonel Edwards came to MOCA in 2014, following a long and distinguished career in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) where he served as Infantry Platoon Commander, Battalion Intelligence Officer, Support Platoon Commander, Training Officer, Infantry Company Second in Command, and Infantry Company Commander and Colonel General Staff. In the latter position, he was responsible for Intelligence, Operations, Training and Civil Military Affairs.

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During his years at the JDF, Colonel Edwards played a key role in the establishment of the Counter Narcotics and Major Crimes Task Force (Operation Kingfish) and was the Chief of Staff of the Task Force from its inception in October 2004 until September 2006. His experience at Operation Kingfish was instrumental to his appointment as MOCA’s Director General, where his sound leadership and dedication to integrity has helped to guide the transition of the organisation from task force to agency and now, to fully independent status.

 

Colonel Edwards is a graduate of the Infantry Officers Advance Course at Fort Benning Georgia USA, Defence Intelligence and Security School at Ashford in Kent, UK; and the International Security Management Course at the Royal Military College of Science (Cranfield University), Shrivenham, UK. He is also graduate of the Canadian Forces College in Toronto Canada, where he successfully completed the inaugural National Security Programme. He holds a Certificate in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, a Master of Science Degree in Corporate Security Management from Cranfield University, and a Master of Art Degree in Defence and Security Management and Policy from the Royal Military College of Canada.

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Colonel Edwards has been involved in research surrounding transnational threat entities affecting Jamaica and the wider region, and was instrumental in the drafting of the National Strategy to counter transnational crime, which was commissioned by the Ministry of National Security in 2002.

 

Colonel Edwards teaches on the MSc in National Security and Strategic Studies at the University of the West Indies where he lectures on ‘Security Concepts and Models’ and contemporary security issues. He was awarded the medal of honour for meritorious service in 2002 and lists scuba diving, photography and sailing as his hobbies.