A SUSPECTED drugs baron who has spent the past eight years living in northern Cyprus after skipping bail is on the run again, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Gary Robb is wanted in the UK for allegedly selling drugs from one of a string of nightclubs he operated in the North-East.

But before he was due to stand trial for serious drugs offences in 1997 he skipped bail and fled to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - a sanctuary for criminals on the run from British law.

The same year, his brother and business partner, James, was jailed for 12 years after admitting allowing his premises in Stockton to be used for drugs deals.

Gary Robb has been living on the Mediterranean island, from where he cannot be extradited, for the past eight years.

He has built up a construction empire, including a business which is building 12,000 villas. Between 400 and 500 British holidaymakers are said to be on his books.

But now his assets have been frozen by the authorities in northern Cyprus after it emerged that he intended to transfer £10m of investors' money into his private account in Bangkok, Thailand.

The attempt to move the money was picked up by a Hong Kong bank, which notified the UK authorities.

In turn, they notified the authorities in Cyprus and the transfer was stopped.

It is believed Robb could be hiding in either Thailand or Turkey.

A newspaper in Cyprus has also reported that Interpol has issued a European arrest warrant for Robb and four of his business partners.

Interpol did not respond to questions posed by The Northern Echo yesterday.

Robb owned the Colosseum nightclub, in Norton Road, Stockton, and was arrested after a police raid in February 1996. Officers seized a haul of Ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis worth £10,000.

The club was closed after the raid.

In 1999, businessman Colin Thomas was jailed for two years for making arrangements to send £98,800 to Robb in northern Cyprus.

Thomas gave a cheque for £63,000 to Robb's mother, Mavis, who allegedly acted as a mule, taking money over to her son in Cyprus.

Thomas, of Ormesby Road, Middlesbrough, later gave her a cheque for £35,000, but then had both cheques stopped.

He was convicted of two offences of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

If Robb, who is in his 40s, has now escaped to a country which has an extradition treaty with the UK, there is a possibility he could be found and made to stand trial at home.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Cleveland Police said: "There is a warrant for his arrest and if he came back, he would be welcomed with open arms."

The Home Office said: "We do not confirm or deny extradition requests until the individual concerned has been arrested pursuant to that request."

Building work on Robb's villas in Cyprus has temporarily ceased and he has been ejected from the board of governors.

A statement put out on the Internet by Robb said he was taking legal action to release the order on the bank accounts and claim for damages.

In 2003, a BBC documentary found Robb living in luxury with his wife and children in Cyprus.

The Kenyon Confronts programme secretly filmed Robb telling its makers: "The lads here are on serious charges, I mean mega-serious, multiple murders, big drugs.

"If they deported all the drug dealers from here, there would be no one left on the island."