A GANGLAND boss was caught on tape offering to “take out” three south Essex drug dealers just weeks before they were shot to death in a country lane, it is claimed.

The pledge was made to a former detective, suspected of corruption, on November 16, 1995- the day teenager Leah Betts died after taking an ecstasy pill supplied by the trio.

The tape, recorded during Scotland Yard’s now infamous Operation Tiberius investigation, is set to be used by the convicted killers in a fresh bid to clear their names.

The Daily Mirror reported how anti-corruption cops were bugging the crime lord in a bid to investigate corrupt links between London’s underworld and Metropolitan Police detectives.

A secret report was drafted in 2002, but has subsequently been leaked amid claims gangsters were able to infiltrate the force “at will”.

An extract in the report reads: “On 16th November 1995 [ex-officer named]… met [crime lord named] who offered the hand of friendship, by offering to take out the supplier of the drugs to Leah Betts, who died of an overdose.”

Just three weeks after the offer, Tony Tucker, 38, Pat Tate, 37, and Craig Rolfe, 26, were blasted to death with a shotgun as they sat in a Range Rover in a secluded track, near Rettendon.

The three men had controlled the supply of ecstasy in Basildon nightclub Raquel’s, where the 18-year-old’s tablet was bought.

Michael Steele, 74, and Jack Whomes, 55, were later convicted on the evidence of “supergrass” Darren Nicholls, who claimed he had been the getaway driver.

However, it has also been suggested that “the supplier” could refer to a friend of Leah who bought the drugs in a club or a drug dealer lower down the chain.

Bernard O’Mahoney, a self-confessed member of the so-called ‘Essex Boys’ gang and now an author, said: “He offered to take out the supplier, not suppliers. It appears he is referring to one person.”

Leah, whose father Paul was a police officer, collapsed during her 18th birthday party at her home in Latchingdon, near Maldon, after taking the ecstasy tablet. The case highlighted the dangers of ecstasy, but the subsequent murders also revealed the extent of organised crime’s involvement in its supply.

Following the murders, Mr Betts was questioned but there is no suggestion he knew the former detective or knew anything about the offer. He told the Mirror: “At the time I was running a clay pigeon shooting business and the police took all my guns. But I hadn’t heard of any of the murdered three.”

The former detective admitted he knew the crime boss, but denied any “skullduggery."

Whomes and Steele have always maintained their innocence, but have failed in numerous appeals. They will present the report to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.