We’ve all heard this story before: a bright young thing sets out to make it as a star on the silver screen, but fame isn’t everything he thought it would be. This time, though, it’s not Hollywood. And it’s not Debbie Reynolds. In fact, it’s a Somali Pirate named “Big Mouth.”
Belgian authorities captured the notorious pirate by luring him to Brussels on the premise that he would star in a documentary movie about his life on the high seas. But when “Big Mouth,” a.k.a. Mohamed Abdi Hassan or “Afweyne,” landed in Belgium to sign the movie deal, police arrested him for piracy.
Hassan and his colleague, Mohamed Abden, were charged with kidnapping, piracy, and organized crime in relation to the 2009 hijacking of the Belgian ship Pompei. The Pompei was held off the coast of Somalia for 70 days, and the nine people on the crew were used as hostages.
A UN report named Hassan a kingpin of the pirate industry, which made millions hijacking merchant vessels between 2008 and 2013. In addition to the Pompei, Hassan was also allegedly involved in the hijacking of a Saudi oil tanker and a Ukranian transport ship carrying refurbished Soviet tanks.
An EU spokesman said, “While fully respecting the principle of presumption of innocence, we consider that this arrest marks a significant step in the fight against piracy.”
No word on whether Big Mouth had FOMO from missing his “Captain Phillips” audition.
[AFP]