Introducing Season Three: Catching The Codfather
The Big Dig
GBH News
4.8 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 February 2026
⏱️ 4 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A fishing tycoon is arrested in an elaborate sting operation, but claims he’s the real hero fighting back against an overbearing state. So who is Carlos “The Codfather” Rafael really – a folk hero, a crook, a righteous rebel, a selfish conman?
In Season 3 of The Big Dig™ podcast, “Catching The Codfather,” we go down to the docks. It’s a place where food, work, nature, money and politics all meet – where dreams are born, fortunes ruined, and where the watchful eye of the government is always present. The series traces the rise of Carlos Rafael and his escalating conflict with the government, because to judge the crimes of The Codfather, you also have to judge the whole system that he chose to break.
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Major sponsorship for Catching The Codfather is provided by Roger’s Fish Co.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Can you tell me about how you did ultimately get arrested? |
| 0:07.8 | This all started a few years back when I wanted to sell my business. |
| 0:20.8 | Carlos Rafael was once in the fishing business. |
| 0:24.7 | He owned the biggest fish plant and the biggest fleet of boats in the most valuable fishing port in America, New Bedford, Massachusetts. |
| 0:33.8 | And he had built it all himself. |
| 0:35.8 | Around the docks, people called him the Codfather. |
| 0:39.2 | The name of the game is, sharp in your knife. |
| 0:43.7 | For decades, Carlos seemed unstoppable, unbeatable, and no one was quite sure how he was able to keep it up. |
| 0:51.1 | Never has there been a band this long. |
| 0:53.7 | Even as the fishing industry struggled all around him. |
| 0:56.8 | A dramatic 77% cut in the cod catch. |
| 1:01.2 | Carlos kept on growing. |
| 1:03.9 | But underneath that juggernaut of a business, there was a secret. |
| 1:08.0 | Some agencies thought he was involved in human trafficking or smuggling. |
| 1:11.0 | Some people thought it was drugs. |
| 1:12.5 | A secret that Carlos guarded very carefully. |
| 1:15.5 | Those are the both names, yes. |
| 1:17.0 | Until he slipped up. |
| 1:18.5 | Hi. |
| 1:20.0 | This is Xavier. |
| 1:21.4 | How are you doing? |
| 1:21.8 | That's the sales fan. |
... |
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