Spanish police dismantle Lyons Clan the 'most violent Scottish crime gang' in decades

Key Points

Spanish Civil Guard says it has ‘dismantled’ the Lyons Clan – the ‘most violent’ Scottish criminal organization of recent decades
The operation has resulted in the arrest of 14 people in Spain, Scotland, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates
Among the arrests is Steven Lyons, the crime boss, who is currently detained in the Netherlands having been deported from Indonesia
The Guardia Civil say Lyons coordinated much of his illicit activities on a global scale from the Costa del Sol
The investigation, dubbed Operation Armorum, has been going on for three years
Turkish National Police allowed for the location and freezing of numerous high-value assets linked to the criminal network

Spanish police say they have dismantled the Lyons Clan, calling it the most violent Scottish criminal organisation of recent decades.

The Guardia Civil said its operation has led to the arrests of 14 people in Spain, Scotland, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

Among the arrests is Steven Lyons, the crime boss, who is currently detained in the Netherlands, having been deported from Indonesia.

Authorities in Indonesia extradited the 45-year-old on Wednesday after his removal was delayed multiple times as police pursued an ongoing investigation, officials said.

The Guardia Civil conducted 18 raids mainly in the Costa del Sol but also in Barcelona. Guardia Civil

It follows a European arrest warrant issued by Spanish authorities.

The Guardia Civil said it conducted 18 raids last week, mainly on the Costa del Sol, as well as in Barcelona.

Electronic devices, large amounts of cash, corporate documentation, high-end watches and cryptocurrency wallets have been seized.

Cooperation with the Turkish National Police has located and blocked numerous high-value assets linked to the network in the country.

The Guardia Civil conducted raids in Spain - seizing documentation. — The Guardia Civil conducted raids in Spain – seizing documentation. Guardia Civil

The investigation has been led by the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Spanish police force, carried out in close collaboration with Police Scotland.

Europol, the Turkish Anti-Narcotics Police, the Dubai Police, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the United States have also participated in the operational phase, the police said.

Turkish National Police allowed for the location and freezing of numerous high-value assets linked to the criminal network.

Three decades of criminal activity

Steven Lyons was extradited from Indonesia. Ngurah Rai Immigration Office

The Guardia Civil said the Lyons Clan emerged in Glasgow in the 1990s and evolved from a local family crime network into a transnational criminal organisation with branches in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

The Lyons developed a complex money laundering network based on shell companies and international financial transactions, managing millions of euros from drug trafficking.

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, made the clan one of the most significant players in modern European organised crime, detectives said.

Connections to major international criminal networks

Lyons investigation timeline

March 27 – Homes in Scotland and Spain raided as part of joint gang-busting operation
March 28 – Steven Lyons arrested on arrival in Bali after being flagged by a Spanish Interpol Red Notice
March 30 – Lyons’ partner Amanda Lyons arrested by police in Dubai, authorities say
March 31 – Indonesian police reveal they are hunting two Scottish gangsters who arrived with Lyons
April 1 – Lyons’ deportation to Spain is delayed
April 8 – Indonesian authorities deport Lyons putting him on a flight to Amsterdam

In 2006, Steven Lyons was shot in a targeted attack at a MOT garage in Lambhill. The crime boss survived; however, his younger cousin, Michael Lyons, died aged 21.

Lyons left Scotland and settled in Spain. There, Spanish police say, he maintained a “low criminal profile”.

Later, he moved to Dubai and continued to direct operations and forge alliances with other international criminal organisations, including the notorious Kinahan Clan.

Glasgow & West

Scottish crime boss arrested in Bali: Who is gang leader Steven Lyons?

Steven Lyons is the head of the notorious Lyons crime family based in Glasgow

The presence of these clans in Spain had already been the subject of previous investigations, such as the one carried out by the Fugitives from Justice Group of the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard in 2021, which culminated in the arrest of GH, known as The Monk, a leader of another British criminal group, the Hutch Clan.

In May last year, in a score-settling hit, Steven Lyon’s brother and an associate were shot dead in a beach bar in Fuengirola, Malaga.