Add The New York Post on Google The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has sensationally admitted that he was selling drugs less than 500 feet from where the 3-year-old UK girl vanished — and was even stopped three times by cops while making a “quick getaway” that night.
Convicted rapist and child abuser Christian Brueckner, 49, has previously been secretive about his whereabouts when McCann vanished from a tourist apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
But he admitted to the Mail on Sunday that he had been around 150 yards, or 450 feet, from the resort — claiming that he previously “kept quiet because the police want to frame me for the Maddie thing.”
“I was on the beach, not far from Maddie’s hotel, selling drugs,” said Brueckner, who was first named in 2020 as being the prime suspect but never charged.
“I’d been in Spain and smuggled the weed into Portugal.
“I was even stopped by police three times on the street while they were looking for Maddie.”
Brueckner admitted that he was “making a quick getaway” to avoid police, while saying it was just because he feared getting busted for drugs.
“There were flashing blue lights and checkpoints everywhere,” he said.
“I just thought, ‘Get me out of here.’ Luckily, they [the cops] didn’t find the drugs.”
Brueckner, who was convicted in 1994 as a teen for sexually abusing a child, still insists cops want to frame him for McCann’s disappearance.
“I have nothing to do with the little girl’s disappearance,” he maintained.
“I would be happy if Maddie turned up tomorrow, then everyone would immediately understand that everything against me is and was staged.
“But that probably won’t happen, so I remain the prime suspect.”
German authorities first named Brueckner the prime suspect in 2020. Portuguese law enforcement later also declared him an “arguido,” or suspect.
He was released from prison last year after serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal.
He has rejected requests to be interviewed by London’s Met Police as part of its “Operation Grange,” which was established in May 2011 by Scotland Yard and led by the Specialist Crime Command unit.
It’s unclear if Brueckner’s recent revelations will speed up the ongoing Met Police investigation.
“As part of ongoing [inquiries,] we remain in close working discussion with policing colleagues in Germany and Portugal,” the Met told The Post in response to Brueckner’s recent claims.
“We will continue to pursue any viable lines of [inquiry].”
