PORTUGUESE cops fear Christian B will never go down for his suspected crimes.

It comes as Germany's investigation into the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, 43, has dried up.

Christian B is currently in jail for drugs offences, and is appealing a seven-year sentence for raping a 73-year-old woman, with Portugese cops now desperately trying to ensure he has no chance of being released anytime soon.

Speaking to The Sun Online, a source said: "Although officers are continuing work around the clock, leads have dried up in recent weeks.

"They know [he] will never talk. So it will be up to them to find the missing pieces of the jigsaw to lead them to finally find out what happened to Maddie."

Back in August, Christian B's lawyer Friedrich Fulscher said "you could order holy water as a long drink in hell" before his client cooperated with the investigation.

Now German cops are desperate for new information as their case has hit a dead end.

DEAD END

Yesterday a source close to the case said: "The German detectives are desperate for fresh leads to help breath new life into the investigation.

"In the first few days after Christian B's name was released they were receiving hundreds of new leads a week.

"But in recent weeks they have dried up and there is concern that they really need to increase the amount of intelligence they have coming in."

Portuguese detectives feel they could offer help to the German force, and are keen to work together the source added – but communication has broken down, leaving cops in Portugal fearing Christian B won't face retribution.

A source said: "One of the biggest issues that doesn't help is that the German and Portuguese police are not working that closely together.

"The police forces in each country could really work together much more."

'DESPERATE FOR LEADS'

But Portuguese police were heavily criticised following Madeleine's 2007 disappearance after Kate and Gerry were outrageously made suspects in the disappearance of their own daughter by then bumbling detective Goncalo Amaral.

The former Portuguese police officer -who was kicked off the case – has also long-claimed Christian B is a "scapegoat," describing him as an “almost perfect suspect”.

At the time, cops were also accused of missing crucial details, allowing witnesses to fly home from the resort in Pria da Luz and failing to lock-down the McCann's apartment as a crime scene.

Last week the key witness who started the new Madeleine McCann probe said of prime suspect Christian B: “One word. Guilty," adding he hopes the 43-year-old will “stay in jail for a long time”.

The witness, who knew his fellow German from their time together in the resort where Madeleine vanished, was the first person to give police Christian B’s name in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance.

Following the tip, cops from Britain, the UK and Germany banded together in secret for three years to track him down.

But now fears grip the forces that he could slip through the net, despite German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, Braunschweig insisting officers was "convinced that our 43-year-old suspect is the murderer of Maddie McCann.”

And speaking to the Sun Online, Mr Christian Wolters said he was unable to share any more information on whether cops had strong leads.

He said: "We are currently not providing any information about our investigations and previous findings."

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