Drug dealer fakes own death with 'gruesome' torture pictures in attempt to dodge jail

A notorious drug dealer faked his own death to dodge prison by staging a gruesome photo of his 'tortured' body with 'thief' carved into his chest.

Gabriel C's audacious effort failed and he's now been jailed for four years and fined £16,193 for trying to pick up 113kg of cocaine from the Port of Antwerp in 2016.

It was the second time he'd tried to fool the Belgian authorities and a rival gang into thinking he was dead, after first making it look like he'd drowned in a lake in The Gambia, west Africa.

Known as 'Lange Vingers' (Sponge Fingers), he vanished around a year ago in fear of his life after reportedly stealing a shipment of drugs from Albanian mobsters.

His enemies attacked several houses and warehouses with AK-47s and hand grenades in search of him.

At the time he was facing a five-year stint for offences committed in 2015.

His lawyer told a judge last month Gabriel C was sorry for his actions and that his wife and three-year-old son had since taught him what "taking responsibility" meant.

His sentence was reduced from five years to four as a result and his immediate arrest has been ordered.

It is unclear if he has since been arrested or why he has not been in prison until this point.

He first tried to make it appear as if he had drowned in a lake in The Gambia, Africa.

However, after his implausible effort failed to pay off, he attempted to fake his own death again by releasing an unconvincing photo that staged his torture at the hands of his enemies.

In the photo, the word "thief" is carved on his chest in capital letters and appears tied to a chair and covered in blood from multiple lacerations.

Mirror