Madeleine McCann could have been taken by sex trafficking gangs helped by police, a think-tank has claimed.
The shocking allegations were made by John Whitehead, president of US-based Rutherford Institute and author of a recent report on child sex abuse in the US, who said he believes she was taken in the same way as other children.
This comes after police began investigating an alleged foreign paedophile who was in the area in May 2007, following a tip-off from Scotland Yard, according to Portuguese media.
Maddie has been missing for 12 years since she disappeared from her hotel room in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while her parents had dinner in a nearby restaurant. She had been with her younger twin siblings.
Madeleine McCann may have been taken by sex trafficking gangs helped by police, claims a US-based think-tank
Kate and Gerry McCann posted on their website findmadeleine.com where they said they would like to 'fast forward' the first couple of weeks in May (Madeleine pictured above)
When asked whether he thought Maddie was taken in a similar way to other children, Mr Whitehead told the Daily Star: 'Oh I think she was. Kids are being snatched all over the world.
'When you look at migrant children coming across the border in the US, they just go missing.
'It's big business. You can get more money than from drugs and guns because you have kids doing multiple sex acts a day and they're being filmed'.
Whitehead also claimed the child sex industry was being made possible by 'predatory cops' - although there is no evidence to suggest Portuguese police were involved.
The Rutherford think-tank recently published a report on child sex trafficking, entitled The Essence of Evil: Sex with Children has become Big Business in America, which looked into how kids are bought, sold and exploited sexually.
Portuguese detectives were recently given extra resources to look into a new suspect, following a tip-off from Scotland Yard.
Authorities are said to have 'many doubts' that Maddie is still alive amid claims police are 'nearer to knowing what happened'.
A report by news website Expresso said the enquiry 'relates to a complaint made about a foreigner who was in Portugal in May 2007.'
'The suspect is no stranger to Portuguese police,' it goes on.
'At the time the PJ investigated him on suspicion of being involved in cases of paedophilia but in light of the information coming from London, the investigators are looking into this case in more detail.'
A Scotland Yard spokesman said the investigation was 'ongoing' but said they would 'not provide a running commentary'.
Lisbon-based newspaper Correio da Manha said prosecutors had turned down a request to see material in the case because of 'active lines of investigation'.
'Police are following new Maddie kidnap clues,' the newspaper claimed.
'More inspectors are advancing with an investigation into a new suspect. A new clue and a new suspect, which the PJ are trying to keep an absolute secret, has led to new resources being put in place to investigate the little girl's whereabouts.'
A spokesman for Portugal's attorney general said: 'Regarding these facts, as is public knowledge, an inquiry in the Faro DIAP Public Prosecutors Office is ongoing. It is under investigation.'
The latest development came as Madeleine's
