We’re always fascinated by unsolved mysteries but that seems to go double when we know who somebody is, yet they manage to disappear anyway.
After seeing so many crime films and TV shows, it’s hard not to think that those who manage to elude international investigators for years must be some kind of master criminals. And it’s certainly true that the more people there are looking for you out there, the harder such a feat is to pull off.
But from what we can see, it’s all about making yourself as quiet and unassuming as possible once you relocate to a new area. And try as he might, one mobster couldn’t quite pull that off.
In all likelihood, the name you most strongly associate with the Italian mafia is the Sicilian organization called Cosa Nostra.
According to The Guardian , however, their once-dominant position in organized crime has receded enough that the ’Ndrangheta mafia from nearby Calabria has long surpassed them in power.
This is apparently attributable to the organization’s control over the majority of the cocaine that finds its way into Europe.
And it was this aspect of their business that compelled 53-year-old Marc Feren Claude Biart to go into hiding back in 2014.
As the BBC reported , police suspected him of trafficking the drug into The Netherlands for the organization’s Cacciola clan.
Once it became clear that the heat was on him, Biart relocated to the town of Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic. According to The Guardian , the life he led here was quiet enough that local Italian expat communities considered him a “foreigner.”
As diligent as he may have been to keep his local presence quiet, however, it seems that the same couldn’t be said for him online.
Although they didn’t share the name of this YouTube channel or whether or not it remains on the site, The Guardian reported that investigators were able to move in and capture Biart thanks to videos that were apparently centered around his Italian cooking skills.
It’s worth noting that Biart wasn’t brazen enough to identify himself or to even show his face in these videos.
So how were police able to identify him? Well, he was apparently known to have some distinct tattoos (not pictured) that he wasn’t as diligent about hiding in his videos as he was when it came to his face.
After his arrest on March 24, Biart was extradited back to Italy.
RELATED STORIES
And he’s far from the only ’Ndrangheta member who’s set to face trial over there.
According to the BBC, 355 alleged mafiosi and officials who collaborated with them are being charged in the largest mafia trial the nation has seen in decades.
It reportedly took three hours at a pre-trial hearing to read the names of all defendants whose charges range from money laundering to extortion to drug trafficking to murder.
The trial began in January and is expected to go on for at least two years with over 900 witnesses providing evidence.
h/t: The Guardian , BBC
