Documentary on the trail of Scots drugs boss ‘Mr X’

In the early 1990s, Tayside diver-turneddrugs baron Julian Chisholm spectacularly shed his shackles and handcuffs and fled into the Spanish desert.

To this day, he remains among the world’s mostwanted men after a massive Ullapool drugs bust, and next year will mark 30 years since the astonishing escape.

Our exclusive new documentary, The Hunt For Mr X, explores the dramatic events leading up to the escape – including a £100 million Ullapool cocaine bust – the biggest in Scottish history.

Our investigation includes on-camera accounts from key figures in the shocking saga for the very first time and takes us around the world on a rollercoaster ride packed with mystery and intrigue.

Scottish drugs baron Chisholm masterminded the biggest cocaine importation in Scottish history and our documentary tracks his gang as they travel around the world – trailed by police and customs officers, doing deals with Moroccan gangsters, Basque terrorists and Colombia’s Cali Cartel.

The story explores how Mr X is still on the run today – and what has happened in the 29 years since he fled.

Chisholm is a 59-year-old Scot whose family had links to Blairgowrie and Strathpeffer – where they owned hotels.

He trained as a North Sea oil diver in Aberdeen and made the dramatic transition into a gang boss.

His drugs network became infamous and his cannabis was dealt all over the UK.

Then he shifted his attentions to cocaine.

In the early 1990s, the Crown Office banned media outlets from naming Chisholm in case it hindered court proceedings if he were to be caught.

Needing to call the mastermind of the drugs gang something after the huge cocaine bust, the press dubbed him Mr X.

Chisholm had links to gang members in Glenisla and also Dundee.

He would also travel from his luxury home in the Costa del Sol to Ullapool where more of his underlings were based.

The globetrotting tale takes us to the sun-kissed coastlines of Majorca and Gibraltar – and also Venezuela and Canada, as well as all over the north of Scotland.

The famous Ullapool drugs bust led to many of Chisholm’s henchmen serving long prison sentences.

But the man himself evaded capture by hiding in the shadows – until one fateful day the story took a dramatic twist.

The documentary features the first ever oncamera interview with customs boss Graham Dick – the man who endured a four-year game of cat and mouse with Chisholm across the world.

We also interview Chet Sandhu, who served time in the same prison as Chisholm.

Journalists Marc Maouad and Eugene Costello who spent years researching this fascinating story also appear.

Another contributor is Stonehaven woman Kathryn Thondycraft-Pope who played a key role in bringing the gang to justice.

There is also insight from our own Impact investigations reporter Dale Haslam, who spent two years researching Chisholm’s gang.

To watch the documentary scan the QR code above.