Editing Mircea Ionuț (section)

== Early life ==
Mircea Ionuț was born in Bucharest on 10 February 1958. He was the younger son of [[Sandu Ionuț]] and Elisabeta Pavel. His brother, [[Dumitru Ionuț]], was older. The family lived near [[Obor Market]], within walking distance of the cold-storage property used by the Bucharest Butchers. Sandu commanded armed crews for the organization.<ref name="butchers-1950s"/> Elisabeta worked at a municipal laundry and objected when Sandu began taking the boys to Butchers properties.

Sandu first used his sons to observe businesses selected for robbery. Mircea waited near entrances and recorded when employees arrived or guards changed shifts. He later followed targets on trams while Dumitru remained near the place they had left. Sandu taught Mircea to clean pistols and conceal them beneath his clothing. At fifteen, Mircea began carrying wrapped weapons and written orders between Butchers properties.

Mircea began drinking alcohol stolen by the Butchers during his adolescence. Dumitru sometimes had to bring him home when he could no longer walk. Mircea left school in 1974. At sixteen, he began accompanying Sandu's crews during robberies. He remained in the getaway vehicle and moved stolen property after the crew returned. After completing compulsory military service, Mircea returned to Bucharest in 1978 and entered Sandu's armed crew.