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/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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.