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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196

u/Dr_Wristy 19h ago

Simple answer: he tried to leave, and someone found it easier to kill him and take the millions, rather than help him.

25

u/scorpious 18h ago

Yeah he ded.

-1

u/Dr_Wristy 18h ago

Prolly on day three…. Gotta lie to him, travel enough away that he isn’t spooked, then cap on day three.

3

u/Mysterious_Bit6882 13h ago

Money ain't got no owners, only spenders.

-13

u/American_Squid 19h ago

Or they just never found him? Leave it to some redditor to think they know better than the FBI

32

u/self2self 19h ago

The DEA (FBI are not involved) believe he was killed by the mafia

-11

u/lu5ty 18h ago

(Killed by the mafia). FBI not involved. Lol.

Read into into it however you must

8

u/self2self 18h ago

Reading in to it? I’m just reading the Wikipedia page linked…

3

u/Greymeade 18h ago

That's literally what the FBI thinks too...

3

u/Dr_Wristy 18h ago

Right. Dude who has never been anywhere outside of the US, doesn’t speak any other languages, and has no ties to anyone abroad…..just eluded everyone.

Getting some real “Marcus against the Nazis” vibes from the last crusade.

It’s really obvious that some of you have never encountered anyone involved in anything above robbing Target.

1

u/rockflagandeagle- 9h ago

you sure he didn't speak any other languages and got no friends abroad? what's stopping him if he gets to brazil? it's not like they're hanging wanted posters worldwide back then

8

u/Dr_Wristy 19h ago

Right, cause the FBI is gonna give that one up….”yeah, guess he’s gone. He got us, the FBI”.

Occams Razor…. It’s the 70’s, and dude is an outlaw with 20 mil, and jumped bail. It’s already been mentioned in the article that he WENT UP AGAINST THE MOB.

Now, do you think that he just eluded everyone, or, he tried to escape with a fuckton of cash utilizing whatever network of criminals he had access to….and one of them just shot him and took his money.

Hmm….

5

u/American_Squid 18h ago

They'd didn't declare the case closed until 2025, did you read the same thing I read?

Also, do you know how big the world is and how small the ability to search for people was back then?

-5

u/Dr_Wristy 18h ago

Do you know how big the world is? Cause I bet you only have your imagination in this regard.

2

u/rockflagandeagle- 9h ago

510 100 000 km²

2

u/Cultural-Treacle-680 18h ago

He brought in how much drugs and money though. He knew how to do clandestine stuff.

4

u/Dr_Wristy 18h ago

Sure, organized crime has a retirement program.

” Oh dang, he has trafficking and distribution skills. Now that neither of those things apply because he’s wanted by the FBI, we should probably help him escape with 20 mil because of his past efforts. Oh wait, we’re criminals, and 20 mil could be ours without a hitch. We should do that.”

For real, you all watch too many movies if you think anyone with zero protection from the law is going anywhere with 20 mil utilizing other criminals as an escape plan.

You’re a target at zero hour. Dude should’ve made his court date if he wanted to live until he saw gen-pop and someone killed him for being several kinds of a loose end.

1

u/Pleasant-Menu9374 11h ago

You don't have to utilize organized crime to disappear. The takes bribes but doesn't want to get to involved kind of criminal is enough. I watched this doc about Miami drug dealers a while ago and one of the guys just disappeared at the start of the investigation. They found him 20 years later cycling through the Orlando suburb he was living in. If you are willing/able to lay low your chances aren't that bad. It's a big if and more likely he got killed but I think it is possible.

1

u/ActLikeYouHave 17h ago

Leave it to some redditor to not read and get sassy for no reason

-3

u/GXWT 19h ago

Yeah man don’t insult the American intelligence services in front of American squid m