Spanish police 'dismantle' Scottish drugs gang as crime boss arrested

Police in Spain say they have "dismantled" a criminal drugs gang led by members of the Lyons family.

A statement by the country's Civil Guard said Scottish gangland figure Steven Lyons had been arrested in the Netherlands after being deported from Bali on Tuesday.

The 45-year-old crime boss from Glasgow was taken into custody on 28 March after arriving in Indonesia from Singapore.

The Civil Guard said the Lyons' organisation in Spain has been taken apart, with 14 arrests in four countries and 20 other people under investigation.

A spokesperson for the force told BBC Scotland they expect Lyons to arrive in Spain in two to three weeks, though that could take longer if he were to oppose extradition.

Lyons was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice and was detained on the same day his wife, Amanda, was arrested in Dubai.

The arrests came as part of Operation Armorum, which has also seen police in Turkey locate and freeze high-value assets linked to the Lyons network, the statement said.

The Civil Guard is one of Spain's two national police agencies. It operates as a paramilitary organisation and deals with high-level security and serious crime.

It said the Lyons operation has involved 18 raids in the last week, mostly on the Costa Del Sol and Barcelona.

The statement said electronic devices, large amounts of cash, company documents, high-end watches and cryptocurrency wallets were seized.

This follows a three-year investigation in collaboration with Police Scotland.

The statement said the Lyons gang has developed a criminal network in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with "a complex money laundering network based on shell companies and international financial transactions, managing millions of euros derived from drug trafficking."

It added: "Its ability to operate simultaneously in several countries - including Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey - and to forge alliances with other major criminal networks, solidified the clan's position as one of the most significant players in contemporary European organised crime."

Lyons was put on a flight out of Indonesia on Tuesday.

In a release confirming the move, the local Ngurah Rai Immigration Office described him as a "mafia boss and Interpol fugitive".

Bugie Kurniawan, head of the office, said: "We will not allow Indonesian territory, especially Bali, to become a haven or base of operations for international criminals."

Lyons is the head of the Lyons group, which has been involved in a feud with the rival Daniel group for more than 20 years.

In 2006, he survived a shooting at a garage in Lambhill in the north of Glasgow. His cousin died in the incident.

He later moved to Spain before settling in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where he has ties to the Dubai-based Kinahan crime group.

Lyons' brother, Eddie Lyons Jnr, and his associate Ross Monaghan were shot dead in a beachfront bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol last May.

Michael Riley, 44, from Liverpool, has been accused by Spanish police of the murders.

He had challenged an extradition bid but the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed in October that he had given his consent to be taken to Spain to face prosecution.

In the days after the double shooting a Spanish National Police detective said the suspect was a member of the rival Daniel gang.

Police Scotland have maintained there is nothing to suggest the murders in Spain are linked to the ongoing gang war or that it was planned in Scotland.