David M. Luna
Former U.S. diplomat and senior national security official. Decades of relationships across law enforcement, intelligence communities, and international organizations: UN, INTERPOL, OECD, WCO.
About Illicit Shadows
Two perspectives.
One field of vision.
Diplomatic credibility meets deep-tech innovation. Field investigations, public knowledge, and intelligence converge under one roof.
The institutionSee the connections.
See the connections.
Make them matter.
Illicit Shadows, LLC brings together the reach of documentary journalism, the depth of a knowledge institution, and the foresight of a modeling system.
That convergence has a name: Illicit Shadows Media, Technology, & Innovation Convergence (MISTIC).
The foundersDifferent disciplines.
Different disciplines.
Shared purpose.
Sam Rad
Samantha Radocchia
Futurist, anthropologist, deep-tech entrepreneur, and bestselling author of Radical Next. Media-platform expertise, emerging-technology leadership, and a global audience.
One platform
Three ways in.
01 / Field investigations
Media
Find the story
Films reported from the field. Follow the data trails, illicit pathways, and dirty money flows behind the global illicit economy.
02 / Museum of Illicit Shadows
Knowledge
Discover the connections
A first-of-its-kind virtual museum on the harms of crime convergence and illicit economies to communities and international security.
03 / Project Helix
Intelligence
Model what comes next
Turns fragmented intelligence into systemic foresight: how criminal, political, and economic networks reorganize after a disruption.
Why nowThe threats
The threats
are converging.
Crime crosses categories.
Cartels, kleptocrats, and state-linked actors operate through shared supply chains, banks, and platforms.
Trade routes carry more than trade.
Ports, free-trade zones, e-commerce, and shipping networks are exploited at scale.
Intelligence remains fragmented.
Data held across institutions can miss the consequences that travel between them.
Clarity has a public purpose.
People need to understand the systems affecting their communities and economies.
Who we serveAcross sectors.
Across sectors.
Across borders.
Industry
- Pharmaceuticals
- Luxury retail
- Automotive
- Food, alcohol, tobacco
- Electronics and e-commerce
- Media and entertainment
- Sports and frontier tech
- Industry associations
- Chambers of commerce
International organizations
- United Nations
- World Bank · IMF
- OECD · WTO · WCO
- INTERPOL
- APEC · ASEAN · GCC
- OAS · EU · NATO
- ICC
- World Economic Forum
- Munich Security Conference
Government
- National security agencies
- Law enforcement
- Customs authorities
- Financial intelligence units
- Diplomatic missions
Civil society
- NGOs
- Think tanks
- Universities
- Academic centers
- Foundations
PartnersBuilt with
Built with
ICAIE and RADOC.
Work at the intersection.
Advisory, intelligence access, museum partnerships, and film collaborations.