Costa del Sol News
Crackdown in Málaga on the Lyons Clan, one of the reference criminal groups in Scotland, which became known on the Costa del Sol after the shooting death last year of two of its members in a Fuengirola pub, one of them the brother of the organization's main leader, Steve Lyons, who has also been captured in the Netherlands. The operation has been carried out in Scotland, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, and Spain, resulting in 14 arrests, half of them on the Malaga coast, where 17 house searches were conducted in Fuengirola and Mijas.
The Spanish leg of the investigation, carried out for over three years by the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, was conducted in close collaboration with Police Scotland and coordinated by Eurojust. The armed institute has recalled that this clan emerged in the 1990s in the neighborhoods of Glasgow as a local group that evolved into a transnational network with branches in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia capable of managing and laundering millions of euros from drug trafficking through shell companies and international financial movements. Among their capabilities is the ability to operate simultaneously in Spain, the United Arab Emirates, or Turkey, countries in which it has been able to weave significant ties with other international organizations.
The presence of this group in Spain dates back to 2006, when a relative of Steve was killed in a crime attributed to the Daniels, the rival clan with which it has maintained a bloody dispute since 2001, and some of its members decided to change scenery. The leader spent some time on the peninsula with a low criminal profile until he moved to Dubai, where he established his residence and base of operations with the collaboration of another well-known family also on the Costa del Sol: the Irish Kinahans. Finally, Steve Lyons has been captured in Indonesia and extradited to the Netherlands, where he has been detained. Amanda, his wife, has also been arrested at Dubai International Airport.
The Civil Guard has highlighted the violence these groups exert among themselves in the countries where they operate, such as the Costa del Sol. The most recent example occurred last May in a Fuengirola pub, where Eddie Lyons Jr and his companion Ross Monaghan were executed by a gunman while enjoying the Champions League final. Weeks later, Michael Riley, a Briton whom the National Police consider a member of the Daniels, was arrested in Liverpool as the alleged perpetrator of the double crime.
