Jay Slater disappearance has links to ‘established criminal network’ in Tenerife, claims ex-Maddie investigator
JAY Slater's disappearance has links to an "established criminal network" in Tenerife, an ex-cop working on the case has claimed.
Mark Williams-Thomas, who has made documentaries on Madeleine McCann and Jimmy Savile, provided a video update on the case in which he made the bombshell claim.
The former detective claimed today that his efforts have "opened up an established criminal network with links to drugs , violent crime and thefts".
He said: "As part of this investigation we have sought to speak with all of the people Jay had contact with whilst in Tenerife.
"The result of this digging has opened up an established criminal network with links to drugs, violent crime and theft.
"At this stage I cannot expand any further on what we now know.
"I'm unable to say if this network has anything to do with Jay's disappearance but remain open-minded as we continue to investigate."
Mark also revealed that convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim is in fact the mystery man known as 'Jonny Vegas'.
Up until now it was believed the nickname referred to the second man Jay travelled back to Qassim's Airbnb with - but Mark has revealed otherwise.
It comes after The Sun revealed Ayub, 31, rented the £40-a-night holiday let under a different surname with the unnamed friend.
Jay, 19, went to the Airbnb - called Case Abuela Tina - in northwest Tenerife at around 5am on June 17, just hours before he vanished.
Mark said: “We know the two men who took Jay back to the rental apartment were key people to speak to.
“As a result I’ve now spoken in some detail to one of these men, Ayub Qassim, who is known as Jonny Vegas.”
In a huge development, the former cop also revealed: “And I’ve also identified the other male who was with him, but I’ve not yet spoken to him”.
The second man remains a key piece of the puzzle in the bizarre mystery of Jay's disappearance.
Qassim, who booked the Airbnb under the surname Abdul, and his friend spoke to Spanish police after Jay vanished.
Officials deemed them "irrelevant" to the ongoing investigation and let them fly home to the UK the very next day.
Qassim, who The Sun revealed was jailed for nine years in 2015, previously insisted: "Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive."
He said: "I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go.
"His friends had all left him.
"I know Jay, through friends, I'm not going to bring someone back to mine if I don't know them.
"I'm doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It's a bit mental. I haven't even done anything."
Jay's own family returned to the Tenerife mountains yesterday to keep searching for the teen.
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Police called off their mammoth efforts last Sunday.
Jay's exhausted uncle, Glen Duncan, told The Sun that he is now convinced others were involved in his nephew's disappearance.
