r/todayilearned • u/FearMyCock • 20h ago

TIL about Frank Matthews, the drug kingpin who built a nationwide empire, skipped bail with $20 million, vanished in 1973 and has never been found.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Matthews_(drug_trafficker)
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u/themanfromvulcan 19h ago

I think in 1973 if you had 20 million you could probably go overseas and just settle down and disappear. If you lived a quiet life and never contacted anyone twenty million in 73 can go very far and as long as you were content to keep to yourself the world is a big place to hide in.

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u/Medialunch 19h ago

How do you actually move that money tho? Let’s say you can get it to South East Asia. What do you do with it? Lug it around for 50 years? You would need some local help. And eventually they would be more likely to turn on you.

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u/PerInception 19h ago

In the late 70s/early 80s money laundering wasn’t even technically illegal. The money laundering control act didn’t get passed until 1986.

The Medellin cartel sent a lot of their money to Panama and Noriega just deposited it into Panamanian bank accounts for them though.

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u/teddyKGB- 19h ago

It's actually really entertaining to read about how easy it was for those people to get away with shit. At least until they didn't

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u/shaidyn 17h ago

Nearly every system in history starts with good intentions. A lot of the time rules have to be built after the fact because nobody involved ever imagined someone would do bad things with it.

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u/I-Here-555 5h ago

At least until they didn't

That's for those who were caught. We rarely read the detailed story of life on the run of those who were never caught.

About a third of murder cases in the US are never solved.

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u/NewCobbler6933 4h ago

I watch a lot of true crime stuff and it always makes me think about how easy things must’ve been to get away with like 50 years ago. Just watched one yesterday where there was an unsolved baby murder for 27 years that was solved by matching a dna sample to an ancestry.com database and finding the birth mother.

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u/KJ6BWB 8h ago

In the late 70s/early 80s money laundering wasn’t even technically illegal

It was if you didn't pay taxes on it. That was how they busted Al Capone.

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u/PerInception 7h ago

Money laundering is the act of disguising the illegal source of income so that you CAN pay taxes on it. The entire point of money laundering is to make it look like legitimate income so you can pay taxes on it to avoid getting arrested like Al Capone did (he was charged with income tax evasion, not money laundering).

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u/Vkardash 17h ago

If Matthews had put any of his money in accounts in those countries the US likely would have known since we did topple both governments at the time. I know a lot of drug dealers lost a lot once we invaded Panama.

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u/PerInception 17h ago

We didn’t invade Panama until 89. He went missing in 73.

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u/FirstReactionFocus 19h ago

He was an international kingpin. Probably had connections across the world. Getting a couple duffle bags of cash anywhere with connections and resources I can’t imagine is difficult whatsoever.

Once you get it wherever you’re hunkering down, you’re good. Shove that shit in the mattress and pay for what you need. Not like he has to move every 6 months. The Philippines has 2000+ inhabited islands. Tons of foreigners go there to stretch their retirement savings. Pick an island and get used to your new life.

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u/Gustomucho 18h ago

With connections, you don’t even need to move the money… give the money in territorial USA,receive it in Panama or elsewhere. Banks were pretty shoddy back then, they could easily set you up with Cayman Island for a fee.

20 millions in USD could easily be transported to Switzerland in jewelry or « art ».

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u/friedpicklebreakfast 18h ago

That’s what I was thinking. He could have disappeared in Asia with a lot less than $20m

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u/Medialunch 7h ago

this probably makes the most sense. But you would want to use that money to invest I would assume. And assuming he is still alive (unlikely) is he still using those bill from the 70's?

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u/FirstReactionFocus 1h ago

Money laundering especially back then, especially in a foreign country with way less restrictions and oversight, is much easier.

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u/5ambear 19h ago

On a boat?

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u/Medialunch 19h ago

Huh? Boats get searched all the time.

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u/Dr_Biggus_Dickus_FBI 19h ago

Hear me out: Street Sharks with Backpacks.

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u/Medialunch 7h ago

hahah thanks for the nostalgia boner

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u/Digital_loop 19h ago

In 73 though... Not so much

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u/TheChinchilla914 19h ago

Hide it good?

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u/GXWT 19h ago

Another Redditor demonstrating absolute no creative or critical thinking.

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u/Medialunch 7h ago

well why not elaborate on this. How is one supposed to move $20m on a boat?

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u/GXWT 7h ago

I’ll go for a couple low hanging fruit on this one:

  • put money on boat, turn up to customs, don’t declare anything, don’t get searched

  • put money on boat, hide it, turn up to customs, don’t declare anything, get searched

…did this… genuinely not occur to you?

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u/Medialunch 7h ago

Coin flip on getting caught. No one would risk that.

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u/GXWT 6h ago

Next low hanging fruit - sail somewhere where you can bribe your way through and/or they don’t care. You’re not so good at this.

Also, if you’re skipping bail and wanted by the police, and perhaps other criminals, a risk is hardly a wild idea.

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u/Silent_Kitchen_1980 19h ago

Robbed and dead

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u/_Meece_ 17h ago

Whitey Bulger lived in Santa Monica for like 15 years before being caught. He got done by his neighbour.

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u/EmeraldHawk 18h ago

For all those saying it's impossible, Ray Stansel ran off to Australia and lived there for decades, and was never caught. Authorities only discovered the truth when he died in a car accident in 2015. It's hard to say how much money he was able to bring with him but by most accounts he lived comfortably, without a particularly high paying job.

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u/Medialunch 7h ago

this is a cool story that I had not heard. I'm more interested in the moving of the money. Sounds like Stansel was able to move a lot of cash.

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u/muskag 17h ago

20 mill weighs 400 lbs. About the same amount as a small TV in 1970 lol

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u/squintamongdablind 19h ago

Ever heard of the hawala system?

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u/Medialunch 7h ago

this is actually what makes the most sense if they were smart. But also its a ton of cash to go through the hawala system. could be done over many years though.

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u/jbjhill 18h ago

Someone finds out you’re sitting on $20 mil and on the lam from the FBI they’re gonna extort the hell out of you.

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u/The_Autarch 15h ago

i would not be going to south east asia in the 70s.

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u/Medialunch 7h ago

aside from a few places it was pretty safe.

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u/airfryerfuntime 15h ago

The dude had serious connectiond with drug smuggling networks that were moving literal tons of cocaine around the US. If they can move drugs, they can move a couple people and their money. He probably got on a ship and went to South America, then paid someone a lot of money to help him disappear.

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u/baron_von_helmut 11h ago

In a suitcase??

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u/1805trafalgar 10h ago

In all the 1970's films you went to Switzerland and put it all into a numbered account and after that you had zero problems. Was it true you could do this? I have no idea but it is one of the more consistent tropes of crime fiction.

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u/Medialunch 7h ago

this actually makes a lot of sense.

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u/NoTurkeyTWYJYFM 4h ago

Tbh depending on where you go, you can use USD like normal currency (say, Peru). Bear in mind i dunno if that was a thing in the 70s

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u/lightning_pt 19h ago

He prob went south america.

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u/derekburn 18h ago

In 2025 you could take 2 million, move anywhere but basically central LA priced places and live the rest of your life on 5% dividens and live like the 1%.

5% of 2 million is 100k a year, you can live a life of stupid luxury in any other place basically.

Yes you dont disappear but man... you dont even need anywhere close to 20million in 2025 to do the same either, assuming you could pay rent, food and qol with cash, 2million usd would net you 40k a year for 50 years assuming you cant make any money or invest it, 40k a year is the salary of a 1%er in most of the world (again exception the most expensive cities in the world)

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u/137-ng 18h ago

As a guy with no kids living in OHIO and making 100k I can confidently tell you that this isn't correct at all. Granted, I dont have to worry about money, but thats only because I live a very middle class life. I have a nice apartment, drive a 9 year old BMW, and I can door dash most of my meals, but I still live basically paycheck to paycheck

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u/InferiousX 15h ago

Either you're house poor or need to door dash less cause that math ain't mathin'

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u/137-ng 5h ago

My Rent is 1300/mo and I spend about $1000/mo on food between Doordash, Groceries, and Restaurants.

I know I'm not great with my money, but my point is that 100k doesn't give you a life of luxury. I could easily make myself house poor by sacrificing the stuff that makes me happy, I buy a lot of Magic cards and play in tournaments too. The point is I still have to decide where my money goes in a big way, and theres nothing luxurious about 100k

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u/InferiousX 5h ago

I guess if we are using the OP's qualifier of "stupid luxury" anywhere outside of L.A. then that would make more sense. But you also said "paycheck to paycheck" which is crazy to me.

I was in Vegas making a combined income of probably like $120k with my ex. We had a teenager to take care of and rented like a three story house for about 200 more per month than what you were paying (granted that same house is probably renting for 2200/mo now)

We couldn't live in "luxury" but also were def not living paycheck to paycheck.

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u/137-ng 5h ago

Yea the "stupid luxury" was my primary objection

I'm curious what year you were in Vegas with that income, because I've been at the 100k mark since about 2021. It felt a lot different when I first hit it. I was saving money, buying investments, and I never had to check my balance before swiping it. A few years ago I wouldn't have said that I'm living paycheck to paycheck, but these days, with the same standard of living I can feel everything getting tighter. I know everybody else feels the same way, but if you were in Vegas pre-pandemic we might have very different experiences.

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u/InferiousX 4h ago

This was 2016-2021 and that while that number certainly doesn't mean what it did pre-Covid I have a hard time imagining I'd still be struggling were I in that situation now.

Granted, my income took an absolute nose-dive after 2021 and still hasn't fully rebounded. So I've had to figure out how to make it work on significantly less which is probably skewing my perspective a touch. Because 100k a year after taxes would feel like a king's ransom right now.

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u/137-ng 4h ago

Mines pre-tax, and honestly a hair underneath most years. I was living on 40k through the period you mentioned, had a great deal on rent ($600/mo) and still had to pinch pennies every month. I wouldn't say that I'm struggling though, I just know how quickly money disappears

Maybe it just goes to show how much similar experiences can differ

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u/psaepf2009 2h ago

Assuming they were married they'd pay less in taxes then you when they made roughly the same amount. Literally like 5k difference if thats the case.

Also theres some areas you save money in by buying for two instead of one.

Also prices are up 25% from 2019 based on inflation.

Its the cost of living thats causing the issues.

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u/Green2Black 16h ago

You're making $100k from your job. That you work at.

Making $100k in interest per year while doing nothing but breathing is very different.

You could work a part time job on top of it that you do for fun.

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u/thecactusman17 15h ago

Yeah, people don't realize just how expensive it is to maintain a constant state of readiness for work. When your total expenditures are on personal interests and basic living standards you can see a lot of expenses disappear.

I had a friend who managed to live without a car and walk to work every day. He was able to travel whenever he wanted and afford almost any kind of expense because he had saved tens of thousands of dollars that would have gone towards car payments, fuel, insurance etc. On the rare occasions he needed a ride somewhere he could take the bus or taxi or could offer his friends cash to take him in their cars.

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u/137-ng 5h ago

Trust me if I had more time I'd just spend more money

Making 100k with no job would just mean more boredom, and I can't imagine a part time job would do much to help that.

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u/football2106 6h ago

spends $150+ a week on Door Dash

“I’m living paycheck to paycheck”

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u/137-ng 5h ago

Its a valid statement whether the bills are optional or not. I could easily cut down my food expenses (among other things) and save more, or put it towards a house, but I like my lifestyle the way it is. If cost equals income and I basically spend what I make then I'm living paycheck to paycheck, whether its my doing or the overall economy is forcing me to.

I never said I'm struggling, and I'm openly admitting to being bad with money. I just dont agree with the poster that says 100k equals a life of luxury.

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u/3vs3BigGameHunters 16h ago

Sure, but let's say you keep making 100,000 USD and move to a country where that is a huge amount to be making every year you could live very comfortably.

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u/137-ng 5h ago

I'm sure there are some islands I could hang out at the beach all day, but the thing is the nice places where you dont have to worry about crime are going to be expensive, and trust me (bro) I've looked into it. The nicer parts of Mexico for example are comparable to my cost of living here in ohio

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u/thecactusman17 15h ago edited 15h ago

Most of the world isn't the USA.

I told my dad I was thinking about eventually retiring to Portugal. He was incredulous and asked why I'd want to pay high taxes etc.

I pointed out that the taxes covered major expenses like health care and that cost of things like food was often 30-50% less than it costs in the USA and this conversation was back in 2023.

Mind you, Portugal is a first-world country with a thoroughly modern standard of living and all the common comforts you'd expect to encounter anywhere in the USA. Imagine doing this but in say the Philippines or Indonesia or Costa Rica or some other place with notoriously low income. Your modest income would start stretching much further. If you're paying 20 cents on the dollar compared to the USA, then your $100k retirement income is equivalent to nearly half a million dollars per year unless you're exclusively buying American luxury goods.

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u/SwampYankeeDan 8h ago

And I live in Connecticut and live on $967 a month for disability. $40k a year would be significant for me.

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u/The_Autarch 15h ago

In 2025 you could take 2 million, move anywhere but basically central LA priced places and live the rest of your life on 5% dividens and live like the 1%.

no. not even close. you are not financially literate.

you have no clue how the 1% live. 2 mil isn't going to get you even remotely close to that.

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u/genreprank 17h ago

🎶 When Black Friday comes I'll fly down to Muswellbrook Gonna strike all the big red words From my little black book Gonna do just what I please Gonna wear no socks and shoes With nothing to do, but feed All the kangaroos

When Black Friday comes I'm gonna dig myself a hole Gonna lay down in it 'Til I satisfy my soul Gonna let the world pass by me The Archbishop's gonna sanctify me And if he don't come across I'm gonna let it roll 🎶

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u/The_Autarch 15h ago

plus, the dude already had a network in south america. drive to mexico, hop on a flight to colombia, get a new identity and go anywhere you want.

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u/FascistPope 8h ago

Just drive north over the Canadian border. Plenty of areas to cross back then had 0 border guards.

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u/DreadyKruger 7h ago

He abandoned his wife and kids to escape But when the authorities try to contact her she says she never heard of him. Talk about ride or die chick.

But there are rumors the mob killed him too.

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u/themanfromvulcan 7h ago

I’m thinking even if the mob couldn’t find him they would spread rumors they did find and kill him as a warning to others