Jay Slater’s cocaine dealer Airbnb friend marries glamorous drug mule mum who smuggled £13m worth of cannabis in 22 suitcases into UK
Ayub Qassim, the last person known to have seen missing teenager Jay Slater alive in Tenerife in 2024, has married Paige Crisp, a woman recently convicted over a £13million cannabis smuggling operation. Qassim, 33, who previously served nine years for masterminding a heroin and crack cocaine supply network into Cardiff, invited Jay back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave shortly before the 19-year-old vanished, triggering a month-long search that dominated UK headlines. The revelation that he is now married to a convicted drug smuggler adds a fresh twist to a case that has continued to attract public attention well after Jay's death was confirmed.
Crisp, 24, a cleaner and mother from Malvern, Worcestershire, was convicted last week alongside ten others after Border Force officers intercepted the group at Birmingham Airport with 460kg of cannabis, worth an estimated £13million, hidden in 22 suitcases flown in from Thailand via Paris. The couple are believed to have married in a traditional Islamic ceremony in Thailand last year, with wedding footage appearing to have been filmed in Medina, Saudi Arabia; Qassim goes by the nickname "QuackQuack", which Crisp has echoed on social media as "Mrs QuackQuack". Qassim was sentenced to nine years and nine months in 2015 for his role in a London-based gang supplying Class A drugs to Wales.
- Jay Slater's last known contact, Ayub Qassim, has married a convicted drug smuggler.
- Wife Paige Crisp helped smuggle £13m of cannabis in 22 suitcases.
- Qassim himself served nine years for a separate Class A drugs operation.
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Ayub Qassim came to public attention in 2024 as the last known person to see Jay Slater, a 19-year-old from Lancashire, before he went missing in Tenerife after a night out. Slater had gone back to Qassim's rented holiday accommodation following a rave, and his subsequent disappearance sparked a lengthy search operation that received extensive UK media coverage before his death was confirmed. Qassim himself has a criminal record, having previously been jailed for running a drug supply network into south Wales.
Paige Crisp is a woman from Worcestershire who was convicted alongside several others after Border Force officers found a large quantity of cannabis concealed in suitcases arriving at a UK airport from abroad, in an operation valued at around £13million. She is reported to be a mother who worked as a cleaner before her involvement in the smuggling case came to light.
The story has drawn attention because it links two separate cases that had already attracted significant public interest: the unresolved circumstances around Jay Slater's disappearance and death, and a major drug trafficking prosecution. The reported marriage between Qassim and Crisp has renewed scrutiny of both individuals' backgrounds.