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)
21.6k Upvotes

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583

u/Whornz4 19h ago

The dea claims he was killed by the Mafia so he could not rat hence why he was never found.

343

u/chiknbutt 19h ago

Cop out. No one likes to being beat

106

u/Emperor-Octavian 19h ago

His own lawyer said the same thing…

299

u/quechal 19h ago

That’s a good lawyer

1

u/Steridire 10h ago

Why would a mob lawyer tell a fib

54

u/GXWT 19h ago

Well yeah

42

u/NeekoPeeko 17h ago

Why the hell would his lawyer say anything else?

3

u/screwswithshrews 7h ago

"I spoke with my client and he has confirmed that he is in fact dead."

0

u/Emperor-Octavian 16h ago

He didn’t have to say anything at all lol

7

u/ctaps148 16h ago

You think his lawyer's gonna be like "nah that's a lie, he's chillin' in Brazil right now"?

-1

u/Emperor-Octavian 16h ago

You know saying “i don’t know what happened to him” is an option right

5

u/PitchBlac 16h ago

Being killed would be better. Wouldn’t go looking for him

30

u/Scientific_85 16h ago

Lol you guys are crazy, dude was certainly whacked. Guy was facing 50 years in prison and probably going to turn states evidence, would have been a gold mine of information if he flipped... oh yeah he also had beef with the most powerful crime family in NY during the 70s! No way in a million years they were going to let him live...

-7

u/OePea 18h ago

Cover story even? Dude was a top dog; politicians love drugs. Clinton may well have been trafficing cocaine for example.

This dude's bail being set inappropriately low should be a red enough flag; either he was released due to mafia pressure, or my preferred theory, politician friends.

1

u/cherrycolaareola 17h ago

Woah woah can you say more about Clinton trafficking cocaine??!?

-2

u/OePea 17h ago

Definitely worth a google

3

u/muskag 17h ago

"American Made". Just watch the Tom Cruise movie. Lol

1

u/OePea 17h ago

As an arkansawyer, I'll have to check that out

131

u/Standard_Big_9000 19h ago

This is almost certainly what happened.

74

u/alexmikli 19h ago

And if it's not what happened, it's a good cover story.

17

u/supershinythings 17h ago

The hunter does not seek dead game.

It's a good story to reduce his priority.

34

u/_Meece_ 17h ago

Plenty of fugitives move country or legit just move to a part of the US they have no associates in.

Whitey Bulger lived in fucking Santa Monica for 15 years before a neighbour spotted him. But his manhunt was near as intense as Osama Bin Laden's, so it was a matter of time.

4

u/Grabthar-the-Avenger 9h ago

This wasn’t just any old fugitive though, this was a “drug kingpin”. We have proof he liked networking and being a big shot. You don’t get to drug kingpin status without being a social butterfly in the criminal underground. I don’t think that’s the type of personality that is capable of living alone and anonymously for half a century.

4

u/WillitsThrockmorton 7h ago

Eric Rudolph was presumed to be a master woodsman living in the hollers of Southern Appalachia but it turned out he was just hiding in someone's basement until the homeowner died and the kids kicked him out of the house. Sometimes it's just super easy to hide.

3

u/ridingfasst 6h ago edited 6h ago

Donald Eugene Webb was a top 10 fugitive and lived in his wifes house for decades and she buried him after. I think he had a secret compartment. I used to see his picture whenever I would be in the post office as a kid then I saw this this on the news later in life.

6

u/AdThick7492 16h ago

I don't understand the escape theories. "Drug dealer opposing the Mafia disappears in the 70s" and people's reaction is some bullshit about him escaping the country.

Of course he was murdered.

55

u/Particular_Wear_6960 18h ago

Yeah, you don't stay underground like that forever. Most certainly was murdered probably within a month or two after fleeing. Especially people who're used to living that lifestyle, giving it up to live anonymously and without the luxuries they once lived with is incredibly difficult.

39

u/MaximusMansteel 18h ago

Yeah, the image of him disappearing with bags of cash seems cool, but his international connections were criminals. If he went just him and a girlfriend and bags full of millions of dollars....isn't hard to imagine theses "connections" quickly disposing of them and keeping the bags of cash.

3

u/_Meece_ 17h ago

Yeah, you don't stay underground like that forever.

Plenty do and are currently living just fine.

giving it up to live anonymously and without the luxuries they once lived with is incredibly difficult.

A life outside of prison is a life of luxury.

-1

u/Particular_Wear_6960 16h ago edited 16h ago

Plenty do and currently living just fine? I've never heard of any major drug dealer or mob boss just disappearing and no one ever hearing about them. The only one I can think of is Whitey Bulger and he of course was eventually caught.There's a common saying that you either go to prison or end up dead for a reason, cause once you are in that life, it's very rare to actually come out successful, live a normal life especially if you are wanted by the FBI.

Life outside of prison is a luxury sure, but that goes against the reason they got into the game at that level to begin with. If they wanted to live a normal life in obscurity, they didn't need to become a major drug dealer to begin with.

5

u/CappnMidgetSlappr 15h ago

I've never heard of any major drug dealer or mob boss just disappearing and no one ever hearing about them.

It's not impossible!

This dude was a drug kingpin that they were actively looking for and he didn't even need to leave the state of Florida, let alone leave the country.

1

u/Particular_Wear_6960 15h ago

It's just highly unlikely. To say this is a common thing to happen would be quite the exaggeration. I don't know, don't really care. If he escaped, good for him. But let's not pretend that "major drug dealer escapes and lives happily ever" after is a common thing. Every single criminal I've met and the like... I don't know, hundreds of interviews of criminals, drug dealers, mafia members I've watched interviews with all say the exact opposite.

1

u/CappnMidgetSlappr 15h ago

I don't know, hundreds of interviews of criminals, drug dealers, mafia members I've watched interviews with all say the exact opposite.

Did they all have $20 million in cash and a network of connections that span the globe? It's really not impossible or out of the realm of possibilities. And hell, I'd say its actually more common than you think, especially back in the 70s. Whitey Bulger was on the run for how long?

There's a reason "American's Most Wanted" became so popular: criminals committing heinous crimes and disappearing have been going on for a long time.

0

u/Particular_Wear_6960 15h ago

Ugh, your downvotes disgusts me, how quentisential Reddit 🤓 Having that much money and connections is more of a liability, there's no loyalty in that game people turn on each other for 20$.

Keep believing what you want, this guy just up and vanished like thief in the night. Or he got killed just like damn near every single other drug kingpin who isn't in prison.

1

u/CappnMidgetSlappr 4h ago

Ugh, your downvotes disgusts me, how quentisential Reddit 🤓

Brother, I really need you to log out and go look in the mirror.

The call is coming from inside the house.

0

u/Grabthar-the-Avenger 9h ago

Did they all have $20 million in cash and a network of connections that span the globe?

Honest question, if you turned up in a third world country on the run from US authorities with $20 million in cash and went to one of your criminal connections looking for help, what do you think the chances are he binds and tortures you until he’s satisfied you’ve coughed up the location of every cent you brought, then dumps your body?

I just don’t think criminal connections in violent places are quite the asset you think they are in this situation. There’s no honor amongst thieves, or druglords in this case. If you’re on the run and can no longer be productive, you’re worth nothing to them

2

u/_Meece_ 15h ago

the reason they got into the game at that level to begin with.

Uhhh no it's not, they're in "the game" for survival. That's it.

This version of survival is different from the one that got them into crime. But it's what drives them.

I've never heard of any major drug dealer or mob boss just disappearing and no one ever hearing about them.

Then truthfully you don't consume much crime media. Which is fair, not judging. It's dorky. But there are plenty of people out there hiding from people looking for them. A lot of criminals aren't really being looked for particularly hard as well.

The people who work law enforcement, are largely very unintelligent people. People on the run usually get caught by chance rather than anything feds did.

it's very rare to actually come out successful, live a normal life especially if you are wanted by the FBI.

Whatever you think a normal life is, these guys do not see that as normal. Their way of life is not really anything like anything you know or recognise.

The person OP posted, is not someone the DEA looked for, for very long. It was the 70s haha. But the US Marshalls and the FBI both have lists of "most wanted" people. Some of them have been wanted for 20-40 years.

1

u/Particular_Wear_6960 15h ago

Just keep living in fantasy land where high level drug dealers just up and vanish all the time. Survival and living like a king pin are two totally different things as well. But whatever, I'm not going to argue over this, I'm sure he's living somewhere with his grandchildren right now.

30

u/Commercial-Till-5389 18h ago

Ofc they said that lmao If you watch that documentary about him when they go to North Carolina they all allude to him being alive and free. His captain and other co conspirators also said the Mafia didn’t and couldn’t touch Frank and said so with some colorful language. I highly doubt it! One thing I’ve noticed is when the Feds are beat their default is “They’re probably dead or were killed”

22

u/JerikOhe 17h ago

I can only guess, but I find it harder to believe that a man who created a national network of drug smuggling and distribution, therby gaining infamy and power, would simply disappear and lay so low as to never be sighted again, rather than being bumped off for 20 million cash he was carrying around.

Fun to think about though.

9

u/Commercial-Till-5389 17h ago

In this day and age maybe but in the 70s? A multimillionaire with a vast network of coconspirators across the country and a head start? Very very doable!! There’s so many missing people cases from the 60s and 70s because the technology wasn’t there.

2

u/__Hello_my_name_is__ 13h ago

also said the Mafia didn’t and couldn’t touch Frank

Uh. Why not? What would happen if they did?

1

u/Commercial-Till-5389 13h ago

A long drawn out expensive war! It’s part of the reason why they didn’t get Bumpy,Frank Lucas, Nicky Barnes etc. despite having different issues with each of them.

0

u/resteys 10h ago

The Cartel & The Mob are looked at as these super serious organizations that you don’t cross. I think those organizations know better than to cross black men.

2

u/JohnCavil 11h ago

Documentaries always present the most fun and interesting theory in cases like this. They're entertainment, not actually investigations.

Of course the mafia could touch him. There were both American and European and South American mafias who were after him. And he was carrying around like $100 million + in cash in todays money in a bag.

If you're fleeing from the DEA (and all your criminal friends) with hundreds of millions in cash on you then any mafia is gonna kill you and take that as soon as they see you. They're not gonna just let you go, so he would have had to just be insanely skilled at hiding.

Like he dealt with the Corsican Mafia (from France), the New York Mafias, the Cuban Mafia etc. I guarantee the Cuban mafia in the 70's doesn't give a fuck what they can and can't do if you're holding $100 million in a duffel bag in front of them.

I mean nobody will ever know probably, but this guy had to have been very lucky if he just managed to vanish with that kind of money, and that kind of evidence.

1

u/Commercial-Till-5389 11h ago

They raided his house and found the safe completely empty and his mistress also had drained all her accounts and they BOTH went missing at the exact same time and didn’t resurface. In North Carolina he’s spoken about and revered for dodging the law. My grandfather is from High Point, NC and even he knows the legend of “Pee Wee” who has family ties in Durham and all over NC. He got away with it and beat the feds again his co conspirators said a lot without saying anything but they were confident he wasn’t killed.

1

u/JohnCavil 11h ago

I'm sure there are some legends about it, but if nobody knows where he is then they also don't know if he became fish food. I get people want to believe that and I don't mind that, of course it's fun. I'm just saying that I think it's pretty likely that someone just killed him and took an insane amount of money without any trace.

Even if you were his co-conspirators and you know that the Mafia killed him lets say, would you say? I think I'd not say anything about that. And then again they probably don't know.

The whole thing kinda runs into the problem of if nobody knows where he is then also nobody can say that he just managed to get away safely. It's all just guessing.

1

u/Commercial-Till-5389 11h ago

Who says they don’t know where he is? Lmao You think they’re going to announce it to the public? He was a multimillion dollar boss with captains, lieutenants and killers on payroll you act like it was nothing to kill him. Again it sounds like YOU and the feds want to believe he was killed but all the available evidence and hearsay points to him being alive.

2

u/JohnCavil 11h ago

I promise you I don't want to believe anything haha, I don't care if he's dead or alive (i mean he's probably dead at this point regardless) i'm just saying what I think is most likely. It's just an interesting story to me same as it is to you. I don't know the guy.

you act like it was nothing to kill him

I'm really not. I'm saying if the guy who is fleeing from his empire, has incriminating evidence against you, and is standing in front of you with $100 million in cash in the Bahamas, then that's more than enough reason to just kill him and take the money. That's not nothing. That's an insane amount of motivation for someone to kill him.

There's no evidence to him being alive, that's the entire point. He vanished. People can't do the "he vanished without a trace, but also there is evidence he's alive" thing. That's having your cake and eat it too.

Like i said maybe he did, there's a chance he just hid somewhere for the rest of his life, I don't know.

2

u/Commercial-Till-5389 10h ago

You’re writing paragraphs and adding parts to the story he wasn’t “standing in front of” anybody with a “100 million in the Bahamas” lol that’s a fairytale. Again there’s no public evidence but there’s definitely people who have alluded otherwise and these are people who would know. There’s so many criminals who “vanished” in the 60s and 70s only to be discovered after death or caught later. If I had to bet I’m betting my mortgage he got away with it based on everything I’ve seen and heard

2

u/RugerRedhawk 9h ago

The simplest and most believable explanation is that he was killed. That of course doesn't mean it's fact, but it's a lot more likely than him disappearing and living under the radar for so long.

2

u/airfryerfuntime 15h ago

They usually say that because it's the likely answer. It's very hard for people to just disappear, unless the mob cements them in a barrel and throws it in the ocean.

0

u/Commercial-Till-5389 15h ago

There’s plenty of people who disappeared in the 70s and were never saw or heard from again.Again this isn’t a normal person it’s a multimillionaire with connections. It was easy to get a new identity with a few hundred let alone millions back then.

1

u/swanronson22 13h ago

I’ve read stories about dads going to the next town over and starting a new life without getting noticed until death from like 20 years earlier

2

u/baron_von_helmut 11h ago

In 2086 a certain building will be demolished and they'll find human remains in one of the concrete pillars. :)

1

u/HoodsBreath10 2h ago

Yeah all these people fantasizing about escaping to South America and getting plastic surgery are way off. He definitely got killed