Marc Feren Claude Biart was arrested on March 24 in the town of Boca Chica, close to the capital Santo Domingo, where he had arrived more than five years ago from Costa Rica, a police statement said.
Marc, an alleged member of the ‘Ndrangheta crime gang has been on the run since 2014, when he was wanted by the police for supposedly trafficking cocaine into the Netherlands Netherlands on behalf of the Cacciola clan of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia.
According to a police statement, the 53-year-old was leading a quiet life in the town of Boca Chica in the Dominican Republic with the local expat community considering a foreigner.
A passionate cook, he was betrayed by a YouTube channel in which he showed off his Italian cooking skills. He is said to have started the channel with his wife. While the videos never showed his face, the tattoos on his body gave him away, said the police.
Similarly in 2018, Shigeharu Shirai, a retired Japanese crime boss, was arrested in Thailand after 14 years on the run, after photos of his Yakuza tattoos went viral. The 72-year-old was arrested while he was out shopping.
Japanese authorities had sought his arrest over his alleged role in the shooting of a rival in 2003. He was leading a peaceful retired life in Thailand when a local posted pictures of Shigeharu playing streetside checkers game with his gang tattoos on display. The images went viral and caught the attention of the Japanese police, who alerted the Thai authorities.
The yakuza emerged in the chaos of postwar Japan, transforming into multibillion-dollar criminal organisations involved in gambling, drugs, prostitution, loan sharking, protection rackets and white-collar crime.
Unlike the Italian mafia or Chinese triads, yakuza are regarded as semi-legitimate organizations.
