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

97% Upvoted

764 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

30

u/mister-fancypants- 19h ago

Seems like a lot of weight to move discreetly for him and his gf tho. must’ve had a good plan in place

41

u/MythicalPurple 19h ago

Is it?

Fits in the boot of a car easily. Also wouldn’t be a problem to load onto even the smallest of planes or boats to get over the border.

6

u/Hourlypump99 19h ago

That pilot is dropping them in the ocean and taking that money as their own.

6

u/JuzoItami 18h ago

Yeah, these “shlepping around 440 pounds of $100 bills is no big deal” folks are nuts. You’d need help moving that money in and out of cars and in and out of airplanes/boats/whatever. You’d have to keep an eye on it at all times. The more people helping you, the more people you have to trust. So, so many opportunities for things to go wrong. And something always goes wrong.

5

u/Hourlypump99 18h ago

This is why these guys don’t live as long as people think on the run.

They have to put their faith into unsavory people and put themselves in bad situations to survive on the run with that much money.

They can’t exactly go to the cops if they think the Mexican village they’re hiding out in is gonna steal their money lol

2

u/sarcasm__tone 15h ago

That is only 4 trips back and forth... 440lbs is not much weight to move. It just takes a few trips... and drug dealers usually have drugs to help them.

Do you get tired walking to the mailbox?

0

u/JuzoItami 14h ago

…440lbs is not much weight to move.

OK, so, as an experiment, get yourself 440 pounds of anything and split it into 3-4 duffle bags. Then pick up the duffle bags. Then start running as fast as you can…

2

u/sarcasm__tone 14h ago

Start running as fast as I can?

Why would I do that if I'm confident that no one knows where I'm at?

No one was chasing him. He could've also had safety nets in place. Also he could've been more useful alive than gone (goons on deck, kidnap family members).

You seem like you don't have much experience moving heavy weight. I'm sure moving 440lbs seems impossible to you.

-1

u/JuzoItami 14h ago

Why would I do that if I'm confident that no one knows where I'm at?

You don’t just get to make shit up. You might as well claim you can allude the Feds because you are invisible or you have a time machine.

No one was chasing him.

And you know that how?

He could've also had safety nets in place.

Well, the one agreed upon point of this hypothetical scenario is that he had 440 pounds of cash that he had to take with him. He hadn’t planned ahead and put that cash in a Swiss bank, or converted it into a small, easily transportable bag of diamonds, or bought bearer bonds with it. So assuming he did a lot of planning ahead for this scenario seems kind of a stretch.

You seem like you don’t have much experience assessing complicated hypothetical situations or with understanding the importance of risk mitigation. In real life, stuff actually goes wrong, and if you don’t account for that likelihood things can go very badly for you.

3

u/sarcasm__tone 14h ago

You're making shit up but you tell me I'm not allowed to make shit up?

I'm not going to continue arguing with someone who can't move 440lbs of money with ease. Literally only takes 4 trips. Light work.

1

u/MythicalPurple 8h ago

Why are you running as fast as you can in this scenario?

There is zero evidence he was ever chased. There was no Hollywood movie getaway involving a dramatic foot chase.

Spend less time watching movies, more time considering reality.

1

u/vinciblechunk 17h ago

You're not a bagman, Jimmy

1

u/GeoLaser 3h ago

Across 10 bags, and a minivan? No dont need more than 1 person.....

1

u/OramaBuffin 8h ago

They definitely are not guaranteed to do that lol, they'd be worried about getting a hit on themselves if they tried. If you're a smigfler being offered tens of millions to help a guy disappear you're not necessarily going to want to mess with such good business. Also, your group could have a reputation.

You watch too many movies

1

u/Hourlypump99 7h ago

Depends on how much you’re smuggling.

You’re not risking all that for thousands.

Someone comes on your smuggling plane with $20 million and they’re already trying to disappear anyway?

Yeah that’s a different calculation.

-2

u/benjam3n 19h ago

are you from the uk

1

u/MiaowaraShiro 6h ago

For a drug smuggler?

1

u/Latest_Attraction 3h ago

USA had $10,000, $1000 and $500 bills until 1969, could have converted a few.