Fugitive Scots drug baron William Blackledge has been let off by US drug cops after evading capture for more than 30 years – but is still a wanted man in Canada.
Blackledge, now 87 and believed to be living in Cyprus, rose through the ranks to become a major figure in the global drug trade, working with the Cali crime cartel against rival Pablo Escobar ’s gang to flood the US with cocaine. Crime gang lieutenant Blackledge, originally from Lanarkshire, was put on Interpol’s most wanted list in 2005 – which made him the world’s most wanted pensioner.
But now in a dramatic twist, the US authorities have removed him from their wanted list and decided to no longer pursue a prosecution against him. However, he is still being hunted by Canada.
Blackledge has been wanted in the US since 1989 for a plan to flood the US and Canada with millions of pounds of Colombian cocaine and cannabis. A source at the US Marshal’s office, who tracked Blackledge around the world, confirmed he was no longer being pursued, saying: “This can happen when fugitives have escaped justice so long that all the witnesses die or agents retire.
“Blackledge managed to stay one step ahead of us at every turn and it was frustrating. There was talk he was being tipped off every time we got close to him.
We almost had him in France and England and we knew he was making trips to Scotland to see his mother before she died.”
However, the source added: “Canada hasn’t dropped their interest in him and maybe the United States clearing him will lure him out of hiding.”
Author Peter Polack, whose next book Fugitive and Free will feature Blackledge’s escape from justice, said: “It is surprising that the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and US Marshall’s office could catch drug lords like El Chapo but not Scottish octogenarian Billy Blackledge.
“Perhaps international fugitives can take hope from this development, provided they reach old age. The lesson may be that if you flee to Cyprus in your dotage, you can escape sanction.”
American authorities said the Drug Enforcement Agency believed Blackledge is living in Cyprus and have decided that, given his age, there is no “merit” in pursuing him and gang members any more.
A notice of dismissal, lodged in a court in Gainsville, Florida, stated: “In late 1989 and early 1990, multiple indictments were returned against more than 15 defendants charging that the defendants engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise to conspire to import into the United States five kilograms or more cocaine and 1000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and conspiracy to possess those substances with intent to distribute.
“The DEA advises that it believes it has located Mr Blackledge and that he is living in Cyprus. Based on discussions with the DEA about the age of the case, the unavailability of witnesses, and the retirement of multiple case agents, even if law enforcement were able to locate and secure Mr Blackledge and the other fugitive defendants, the Government has concluded that there is no reasonable likelihood of a successful prosecution of this case and requests that the charges against the listed defendants be dismissed.”
The order was granted by a judge – but the Daily Record understands Canadian authorities still want him. In Canada, Blackedge joined forces with the Hells Angels in the mid-80s, when Montreal was in the grip of a gangland war.
Frank “Dunie” Ryan, leader of the West End Gang, was murdered in 1984. His successor, Allan “the Weasel” Ross – who died aged 74 in a US prison in 2018 – hired two Hells Angels to kill Ryan’s killers. The suspected killers died after a bomb was planted in their flat.
The biker gang was then introduced to Blackledge. He helped the Angels import millions of pounds worth of cocaine from South America using his links to the Cali Cartel.
Even after he fled to Florida, Blackledge continued to act as a go-between for the Angels and the Colombians. When his old associate the Weasel was arrested in 1991, the Canadian Mounties hoped it would lead them to Blackledge.
In his absence, Canadian authorities indicted him for drug offences. He faces up to 60 years in jail if caught and convicted.
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