THE ‘cold blood’ slaying of a British businessman, gunned down outside his Costa del Sol home, was carried out by ‘UK assassins’ who ‘followed him for days’, it has emerged.

Peter Andrew Williamson, 39, from Salford, Greater Manchester was gunned down in Mijas in November.

The Kersal dad-of-two had returned to the Riviera del Sol urbanization from the gym in his UK-plated Audi before gunmen shot him seven times, with one bullet entering his heart.

But it has now been revealed that the brutal killing of the expat, nicknamed ‘Snaggle’, was carried out by hitmen sent from England as part of a bitter drug gang rivalry.

It comes as two Brits were cuffed three weeks ago, with the arresting officers discovering 20 kilos of cannabis in one of the detainees’ houses.

Now investigators have said that a dispute between ‘rival drug traffickers’ is the ‘primary motive for the murder’.

Dead British Man
KILLED: Peter Andrew Williamson from Salford was shot dead in November as he returned to his Mijas home from the gym

Police also revealed that ‘from the first moment’ they knew Williamson ‘had numerous criminal records for crimes committed in the United Kingdom’.

Hired killers are known to have travelled from England to Barcelona where they rented a car and made their way down to Mijas.

“For several days they followed the victim until choosing the right moment to shoot him,” a Guardia Civil spokesperson said

They added: “The careful choice of the place and time to commit the murder demonstrates the criminal experience, cold blood and dangerousness of the two detainees.

“Thanks to coordination with the British police authorities, the officers obtained the identity of the two suspects in the crime.

“Both belonged to an important criminal organisation in that country, dedicated to the acquisition, transportation and distribution of marijuana.”

Arrest Murcia
CUFFED: One of the suspects in Williamson’s murder being arrested by Guardia Civil officers in Mijas

Williamson’s murder took place on November 21 in Calle Orfebres near the Calahonda toll booth on the AP-7 motorway.

It is believed that this proximity to the road allowed Williamson’s killers who are thought to have pulled up alongside him and shot him, to make a quick exit.

One man was arrested in the UK over Williamson’s death and police have said that he has previously been jailed in the UK.

Cannabis Mijas Death
VACUUM-PACKED: Police found 20 kilos of cannabis at the house of the Brit arrested in Murcia over Williamson’s death

A European Arrest and Delivery Order (OEDE) is currently being processed so that the authorities in Spain can try him for murder committed on Spanish soil.

The other Brit to have been held ‘spent five months traveling to different European and South American countries’ prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, police said.

They added that he then returned to Spain as the country entered lockdown in March, settling in an upmarket property in Murcia.

It was at a home in the region, where he was arrested by the Guardia Civil’s Special Intervention Unit (UEI), said to have taken place on May 11.

Officers also seized 20 kilos of ‘vacuum-packed’ cannabis at the property, which was ‘used to prepare marijuana shipments’.

Both arrests are the result of a joint operation between police in Malaga and Murcia in Spain and Manchester in the UK.

Williamson’s family have denied that he was involved in crime, despite reports that he shipped cannabis resin from the Costa del Sol.

His mother, who lived in the same area as him, is understood to have been with him just after he was shot and tried to save him.

In a heartfelt tribute, his aunt Carol Williamson Moores said: “My caring beautiful nephew little Peter.

“Taken from us in horrible circumstances. Gone too soon. Love you Snaggle. Always in my heart. Will never be forgotten.”

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