Missing rugby and X Factor star Levi Davis 'was £100,000 in debt to Somali mafia and was convinced they had tried to POISON him before he vanished in Spain'
Missing rugby and X Factor star Levi Davis was around £100,000 in debt to the Somali mafia and was convinced they had tried to poison him before he vanished in Spain, it was claimed on Wednesday.
Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia said the 24-year-old, who disappeared in Barcelona nearly three months ago, had got himself into huge debt after his party lifestyle spiralled out of control.
British investigator Gavin Burrows has been hired by Davis' distraught family to look into the disappearance. An unnamed member of Burrows' team was quoted by the paper as saying: 'Davis came to Barcelona fleeing from these criminals. He had adopted a frenzied lifestyle and was in a very delicate situation.
The truth is he was sure they were chasing him. In fact he was convinced they had tried to poison him on one occasion.'
The amount he owed was put at around £102,000.
The Somali mafia debt claims surfaced in Spain as it emerged his family were pressing Spanish police to investigate a possible drowning in Barcelona's port before Levi's passport was found nearby.
Fears grew that he could have been lured into a trap after arranging to meet someone he had met on social media.
Good Morning Britain (GMB) said this morning that Burrows had told the programme he feared Levi may have drowned in Barcelona's port.
GMB reporter Nick Dixon mentioned the port area incident, noting that it happened shortly after Levi was last seen.
Dixon added: 'A man was in the water in distress in the port area close to a nearby cruise ship.
'A search was carried out but no body was found and everyone was accounted for, at least on the cruise ship.
'But it was some time later that the police realised Levi's passport was found in that same area.'
The incident was also flagged in overnight reports in Spain, which said workers on the cruise ship had alerted the authorities that someone was in the sea but the search was suspended soon afterwards because none of the passengers or crew on board were missing.
Levi's Ibiza-based friend Richard Squire formally reported him missing a few days later after his family informed West Midlands Police he had vanished.
Barcelona police confirmed on November 22 last year that his passport had been found in the city port after Levi's mother Julie revealed it had turned up.
Speaking of his fears the missing Brit could have been entrapped by someone on social media, and appearing to explain a mystery Bizum payment Levi was said to have made the day he vanished, the unnamed investigator told La Vanguardia: 'We know a friend sent him £30 on Bizum so he could play for a place to sleep in.
'And we also know he intended meeting a person he had met on social media, a person he had never actually seen, a person who could give us very valuable information about what occurred.
'Unfortunately we only have a nickname to go on.