Dennis Cheng joined the Basel Institute on Governance in May 2024 as Senior Specialist, Asset Recovery in Mexico, having previously worked with the Institute's Latin America team from 2021 to 2022.

Dennis Cheng is a specialist in forfeiture and asset management systems. He has worked as a consultant and advisor to international organisations including the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States (CICAD / OEA), the Office of the United Nations Against Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Office of International Narcotics Affairs and Law Enforcement (INL) of the United States Embassies in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Peru, DAI Global UK and the Cooperation Program on drug policy between Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union (COPOLAD).

He was the Director of the Seized and Forfeited Assets Project in Latin America (BIDAL) CICAD / OEA, working on the creation and improvement of national asset seizure and forfeiture systems as well as specialised agencies. He has provided technical assistance in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru, and has participated in asset confiscation law projects in several Latin American countries. In addition, he is co-founder of the Asset Recovery Network of the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT).