Arrest of Scottish gang boss Steven Lyons sends 'huge ripples' through criminal underworld

The arrest of Scottish gang boss Steven Lyons will send “huge ripples” through the criminal underworld, says the former director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

The high-profile gangland figure was arrested at Indonesia’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport by immigration officers on Saturday.

The authorities said the 45-year-old had arrived in Bali on a flight from Singapore. He was flagged as the subject of an Interpol Red Notice and taken into custody during immigration checks.

Investigators believe this was Lyons’ second time travelling to Bali as he looked to enter the drugs market in the country.

Steven Lyons has been described as the "poster boy of organised crime for almost two decades" — Steven Lyons has been described as the “poster boy of organised crime for almost two decades” Getty Images

Indonesian authorities have also launched a manhunt for Scottish gangsters, Steven Larwood and Lewis “Wang”, who arrived on the island with the kingpin.

Graeme Pearson, the former director general of the DEA, has described Lyons as the “poster boy of organised crime for almost two decades”.

He believes the gang leader’s arrest in Bali is a “major hit” for organised crime groups operating in Scotland, and key figures might be worried that they could be snared next.

Mr Pearson told STV News: “There was a feeling for many years that the Lyons could operate outside of Scotland untouched, and that the various law enforcement agencies had no ability to get their hands on them.

“That has now ceased. The Spanish initiated an investigation that brought about an Interpol arrest warrant.

“Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency became involved with the wider implications that grew from the investigation into Steven Lyons and his associates in Spain.”

Steven Lyons was arrested in Bali following an Interpol Red Notice. Ngurah Rai Immigration Office

The arrest of the gang leader, who is due to be extradited to Spain on Wednesday, comes as nine men appeared in court following a Police Scotland-led international gang-busting operation on Friday, targeting alleged members of the Lyons crime group.

Officers executed warrants at addresses in Glasgow, Bellshill, Cumbernauld, Gartcosh, Caldercruix, Coatbridge and East Whitburn as part of a pre-planned day of action targeting serious and organised crime.

The operation, which is not linked to the ongoing criminal feud in Scotland, was coordinated with the Spanish Guardia Civil, who raided addresses in Malaga and Barcelona.

The gang is suspected of running a prolific criminal network involved in the transport of large quantities of drugs, including hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, into Scotland

Pearson believes investigators would have worked “tirelessly” to gather the intelligence needed to arrest the Lyons kingpin and any of his associates.

However, the former police director has warned that other criminal gangs will be waiting to “take advantage of the vacuum created” following the arrest of the crime boss, which will be a major challenge for Police Scotland in the coming years.

The ex-officer explained: “There’s huge ripples going through the criminal underworld.

“Trying to judge who will be the next kingpins, how will organised crime groups supply drugs to Scotland, where will the profit go and who will manage it.

“That will all be on the agenda of various groups as we speak.”