The deadly gang has pulled off kidnappings and extortion plots in the past. “They’re highly skilled operatives with little regard for human life,�? the insider says.

Brad, 43, and Angie, 31, have faced threats before, many of them baseless. A rep for Brad says there’s no truth to the story.

Indeed, the specifics of the scheme — which Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s bodyguards first learned about from British security sources - are chilling. “Information came out that leaders of the gang ordered their LA members to devise a plan to kidnap Pax before demanding a ransom of $100 million - equal to the profit from a year of drug dealing — for his safe return,�? the insider says. “Brad and Angie would have a number of days to hand over the money or risk the boy’s life.�?

After an investigation deemed the threat “credible and serious,�? Brad’s security team informed the star that Pax was in legitimate danger. “The life drained out of Brad when he heard that,�? says a friend of the couple. “He was a wreck. He didn’t want to tell Angie the extent of the threat, especially not until she returned stateside. But he had no choice. She needed to know so she could take the necessary precautions.�?

When Brad finally told Angelina Jolie the terrible news, “she sobbed that she’d die if anything happened to Pax,�? the friend says.

Earlier this month, UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, 31, admitted to News of the World that authorities in a foreign country uncovered an elaborate plan to abduct the her

“It was in a small village. I won't say where, or with whom, but some gangsters planned to kidnap me and extort a massive ransom, “ Jolie confesses to the British paper. “I was warned at the last minute, and managed to escape, luckily."

"I don't want to act like the Mother Teresa of Hollywood," Jolie tells News of the World. "But I want to help where there is poverty and destruction. I love Brad very much and on our trips we pull together as a team. Things only get difficult when it affects our children.�?