Portuguese cops ‘working closely with British detectives’ after tip Madeleine McCann was snatched by traffickers

PORTUGUESE cops say they are 'working closely with British detectives' after a tip that Madeleine McCann was snatched by a gang of European traffickers.

Policia Judiciaria bosses said they are "completely in tune" with Scotland Yard and their relationship is "easy and fluid" as they probe the new line of investigation.

Operation Grange, the Met team which reopened the case in Portugal in October 2013, was handed more cash to investigate the new lead, it was revealed at the weekend.

Portuguese police have denounced the he theory championed by the Brit team's former chief Andy Redwood claiming that Madeleine was kidnapped from her Algarve holiday flat by a gang of thieves during a bungled burglary.

Until the most recent lead, it was thought the botched burglary claims formed the final line of inquiry.

But Portugal’s Attorney General’s office confirmed yesterday the final six ‘letters of request’ officers in Faro had been asked to work on was completed and sent back on October 25.

Officers in the Algarve city had been expecting to receive a new rogatory letter asking them to arrange a fresh interrogation of four locals questioned as ‘arguidos’ or official suspects in July 2014 as part of the botched burglary theory - but so far none has been forthcoming.

The Operation Grange team, now led by DCI Nicola Wall, is in regular contact with the Madeleine McCann review team based in Porto which got the case reopened three years ago after linking convicted burglar Euclides Monteiro, who died in a tractor accident in 2009, to the Brit child’s disappearance.

A senior Lisbon-based officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Although we are talking from a formal point of view about two different investigations which are independent of each other, the contacts between the two teams are easy and frequent.

“The high-ranking meetings at the PJ HQ in Lisbon, which worked to establish models of co-operation are no longer needed.

“Since the Operation Grange leadership changed, the relationship is easy and fluid and conducted by phone.

“There is still work to do. Not all possibilities have been dismissed.

"There is one line of investigation to be explored and we and Scotland Yard are completely in tune with each other.

“We are both working on the same line of investigation and are in close contact.”

Weekend reports said the Scotland Yard search for Madeleine had been extended by months after detectives were given more cash.

The Met was said to be taking the development about a gang of European traffickers snatching the youngster so seriously that leading Whitehall officials were being briefed on its progress.

The investigation of the new lead was described as “the last throw of the dice.”

The PJ declined to make any official comment on the weekend trafficking claims, which came eight months after Met commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe predicted the force’s £12million Operation Grange probe was coming to an end.

He had said that it was likely to conclude within a few months after a final matter was checked out.

Grange’s extension offers renewed hope for Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry, both 48, from Rothley, Leics.

The couple also believe their daughter, who would now be 13, could have been kidnapped and sold by traffickers.

They have researched human trafficking comprehensively since Madeleine vanished and Kate has met representatives from several charities who help victims.

Reports following Madeleine’s disappearance suggested she could have been taken to Belgium or Morocco in North Africa.

She vanished from her bed in a holiday apartment while her parents ate a tapas meal nearby with friends.

The child trafficking theory was first raised by private investigators working for the McCanns in late 2007.

They believed there could have been gang “spotters” working in the Portuguese resort.

There were reports of a man with binoculars looking at children on the beach and of men taking photos of kids.

The McCanns believe the pictures may have been shown to traffickers who then selected Madeleine.

The theory was given further credence by Scotland Yard who provided information about a Belgian paedophile ring to the Portuguese authorities in March 2008.

The Met’s clubs and vice unit received a tip that the ring had placed an order for a “young girl” just three days before Madeleine went missing.

Leicestershire Police, who at that point led the Operation Task effort to help find Madeleine, were also informed.

A friend of the McCanns said: “Trafficking into Belgium and North Africa has always formed a very strong part of the investigation.

“There is definitive hard evidence that this is happening and they have looked into the fact someone was targeting children and may well have been stealing to order.”

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