Mafioso on the run caught after showing off Italian cooking skills on YouTube

Marc Feren Claude Biart led ‘quiet life’ after alleged involvement in ‘Ndrangheta clan’s drug trafficking network

The ‘Ndrangheta gang member had been living an idyllic life in Boca Chica, where he was arrested, for over five years (AFP via Getty Images)

A mafia fugitive who has been on the run for over five years was apprehended in the Caribbean after he posted videos to YouTube and police recognised his distinctive tattoos - Italian police have said.

Marc Feren Claude Biart is believed to have led a “quiet life” in Boca Chica, in the Dominican Republic, with local expats considering him a “foreigner”, officers said in a statement.

However his cover was blown after he and his wife posted cooking videos to a YouTube channel, on which he regular boasted about his Italian cooking.

While the 53-year-old worked hard to keep his face covered, he inadvertently let his tattoos be filmed which helped him to be recognised by police hunting him.

Mr Biart had been on the run since 2014, when Italian prosecutors ordered his arrest for trafficking cocaine in the Netherlands on behalf of the Cacciola clan of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia.

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He fled to Central America and then to the Dominican Republic, where, according to the Italian police, he was careful not to attract attention and kept his distance from the numerous Italians living in Boca Chica.

Another alleged ‘Ndrangheta member was arrested in Portugal on Monday. Francesco Pelle, who had been on the run for 14 years and was considered one of Italy’s most dangerous fugitives, was tracked down at a clinic in Lisbon where he was receiving treatment for coronavirus.

The ‘Ndrangheta is considered by prosecutors to be the most powerful mafia group in the country and has long eclipsed the more famous Cosa Nostra, based in Sicily.

Based in Calabria, the region that forms the tip of Italy’s boot-like shape, the ‘Ndrangheta has enriched itself through kidnapping and its involvement in international drug smuggling, and controls most of the cocaine entering Europe.

According to the police, Mr Biart, who arrived back in Italy on Monday morning, previously trafficked drugs for the ‘Ndrangheta’s Cacciola clan, based in the small town of Rosarno.

Additional reporting by agencies