British man, 31, who Jay Slater visited in AirBnb before vanishing is a convicted drug dealer and he insists missing teen ‘came to the house alive, and he left the house alive’

• Ayub Qassim invited Jay back to his rented cottage hours before he vanished 

The Briton at the centre of the Jay Slater mystery broke his silence today – and told MailOnline: ‘He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive.’

Ayub Qassim invited Jay, 19, back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife hours before he vanished on June 17.

Qassim, 31, was jailed nine years ago for being the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs.

He booked the £40-a-night holiday rental online under the name Ayub Abdul.

Spanish police hunting for Jay have already spoken to Qassim and the unnamed friend he was travelling with known only as ‘Johnny Vegas’.

The men stayed on the island for an extra day after Jay went missing to speak to police – although both have been described as ‘irrelevant’ to their investigation.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline today Qassim said: ‘The only comment I have to make is that Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive.

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‘I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him.

‘I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them.

‘I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.’

Now Qassim is back at his family’s flat in Barking, east London.

In 2015 Qassim was the ringleader of a London-based crime gang who imported heroin and crack cocaine to Cardiff. When police raided a property there, they found drugs, cash, mobile phones and digital scales. Qassim was sentenced to nine years and nine months.

Qassim insisted he had had no argument with Jay and he had even given him a blanket to sleep in.

He added: ‘If I’d fallen out with him would he even come to mine?

‘There were no problems. You’ve seen the last images of him with his red blanket around him.

‘I don’t know if he had beef elsewhere because I don’t know him that well, I only know him through friends.’

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Former detective turned TV sleuth Mark Williams-Thomas flew to Tenerife to help with the search – and said he wanted to speak to the two men who rented the apartment Jay last visited.

But Qassim said he had only spoken to authorities in Tenerife.

He said: ‘I’ve spoken to the Spanish police and they’ve told me not to speak to anyone which is why I’ve been quiet.

‘I’ve not spoken to Mark Williams-Thomas or anyone like him because he doesn’t have any jurisdiction in Tenerife, and I haven’t done anything wrong.’

Asked how well he knew Jay and what he thought of the conspiracy theories surrounding his disappearance, Qassim said: ‘Everyone knows each other. I’m not going to slander anyone. 

‘He’s a cool guy, Jay. He ain’t got a problem with me, I haven’t got a problem with him or his mates. We just all talk to each other and everything was sweet.’

Jay went back to Qassim’s remote cottage – called Casa Abuela Tina – at 5am on the day he vanished on June 17.

But he is known to have left the property at around 7.30am to catch a bus back towards his holiday apartment.

A witness said he asked her when the next bus was. When she told him the next one wasn’t until 10am, he is believed to have attempted to walk the 11 hours it would have taken him to get back to his holiday let.

The man and another who was travelling with him stayed an extra day after he vanished and spoke to police.

They gave the officers their details and fully cooperated with the investigation. Sources close to the inquiry have told MailOnline that the men are not relevant to Jay’s disappearance.