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Crime Scottish drug-trading clan Lyons falls: leader's brother was one of two shot dead in Fuengirola pub in May 2025The police have arrested the leader in Bali and transferred him to the Netherlands, while locating his partner in Dubai
María José Díaz Alcalá
Thursday, 9 April 2026, 15:55
Two Scottish men in their 40s lost their lives after getting shot by hitman at a Fuengirola Irish pub on 31 May last year. Both belonged to the Scottish Lyons clan, which has just fallen after the arrest of the leaders.
Following a thorough investigation led by a court in Malaga, the Guardia Civil has dismantled the gang, arresting 14 people, including leader Steve Lyons - brother of Eddie Lyons Jr., who died in Fuengirola.
The police have located and arrested Lyons in Bali. They have transferred him to the Netherlands. The authorities have also arrested his partner at Dubai International Airport, suspecting her as a member of the criminal organisation.
In Spain, police operations took place last week with a total of 18 raids, mostly in the Costa del Sol and Barcelona, culminating in the seizure of large amounts of cash, company documents, high-end watches and cryptocurrency wallets.
From local crime in the 90s to one of the most established clans in Europe
The Lyons clan emerged from a local family crime network in Glasgow in the 1990s. It grew into a transnational criminal organisation with branches in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Simultaneously, the clan developed a complex money-laundering network based on shell companies and international financial transactions, managing millions of euros derived from drug-trafficking.
Its ability to operate simultaneously in several countries (Spain, the UAE and Turkey) and to forge alliances with other major criminal networks consolidated the clan as one of the most relevant actors in contemporary European organised crime.
In 2006, following a confrontation in Glasgow in which a member of the clan was killed, Steve Lyons moved to Spain, where he maintained a low profile, according to the Guardia Civil. He later moved to Dubai and established his residence there to continue directing operations and forging alliances with other international criminal organisations, such as the notorious Kinahan clan.
Over three decades, the Lyons clan has evolved into a highly sophisticated criminal structure, characterised by the violence of its actions and its international expansion. Control has remained within the family, with continuous generational succession.
Their notoriety stemmed from a confrontation with a rival organisation in northern Scotland in 2001. Since then, gang violence has spread to various parts of Europe, where both criminal organisations have established strategic branches.