Authorities scrap £10k reward for capture of fugitive Scots brothers amid fears pair were executed
12.12.2022 - 08:17
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
The £10,000 reward for the arrest of Scotland’s most wanted men has been dropped after they were posted missing, presumed dead. Charity Crimestoppers put up the bounty for the capture of alleged kingpins James and Barry Gillespie – dubbed The Pablo Escobar Brothers. They are wanted as part of a global probe into money laundering, drug dealing and gun trafficking.
Last year we revealed the Gillespies, of Rutherglen, near Glasgow, had allegedly been executed in Brazil following a fall-out with gangsters in the coastal city of Fortaleza. Crimestoppers has now revealed the rewards – £5000 for each brother – are no longer on offer. A spokesman said they are scrapped “unless renewed at the request of the investigating police force”. The brothers are also wanted over an attempted murder and fled abroad as law enforcement closed in on them.
They bunkered down in a Brazilian bolthole amid claims they ran a multi-million pound organised crime empire which flooded Scotland with drugs and guns. But underworld sources claim a feud with Brazilian gangsters over protection money led to their deaths. Their families were told by Police Scotland last year that officers believed the pair “may have come to harm”.
A year on from the news they were missing presumed dead, their families and police officers are still searching for answers on exactly what happened. Police Scotland insists officers are still trying hard to track them down and anyone with information must come forward. The Gillespies headed an encrypted mobile phone company. Their expertise allowed them to go completely undetected while having regular contact with friends and family.
But all contact ceased amid the claims they had been murdered in Brazil. An insider said: “There
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