Glasgow gangsters Ross McGill and Steven Lyons ‘arrested in Middle East’
Lyons family crime boss Steven Lyons and former Rangers Ultras leader Ross McGill are said to have been arrested in the gulf state of Bahrain over domestic terrror offences
Ross McGill(Image: Daily Record. )
Two prominent crime figures are reported to have been detained last night in the Middle East. Alleged Lyons family crime boss Steven Lyons, former Rangers Ultras leader Ross McGill, and a female acquaintance of McGill’s, are believed to have been held in the Gulf state of Bahrain.
It is suggested that their arrest was at the behest of Police Scotland and a request is set to be made for the duo to be extradited back to the UK. An underworld source revealed: “They are being kept there until the cops over here can go out to Bahrain to bring them back.”
The Glasgow trio are suspected to have been arrested on domestic terrorism charges, allowing the police to detain them for up to 14 days upon their return to Scotland. McGill is accused of masterminding a series of attacks on members of the Daniel crime family and their associates in both Edinburgh and Glasgow last year, using a clandestine group known as Tamo Junto (TMJ).
This wave of violence has resulted in residential and commercial properties being torched in both cities and individuals being assaulted by masked hooligans armed with machetes. It’s alleged that McGill ordered the attacks after accusing a man associated with Edinburgh crime boss and Daniel ally Mark Richardson of purchasing a £500,000 batch of cocaine with counterfeit bank notes.
Both clans, the Lyons and the Daniels, who hail from Glasgow’s north side, have been embroiled in a bitter rivalry spanning 25 years. The source continued: “The police are sending a message that there’s nowhere to hide regardless of how high up the crime ladder you are.”, reports Glasgow Live.
“It will make Lyons and McGill’s soldiers realise they are not as untouchable as they think they are.”
In January, the Daily Record disclosed that McGill and Steven Lyons had conducted a criminal conference at an undisclosed foreign location to supposedly orchestrate additional assaults. This marks the second occasion the pair have attracted official scrutiny whilst operating from the Middle East.
The initial incident occurred last September when both men were detained and subsequently instructed to depart Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where they had been residing. Lyons is believed to have been supplying McGill and his TMJ organisation with intelligence regarding their shared enemies.
The bloodshed began on March 6 last year when the Belle Cheveux beauty parlour in Edinburgh, connected to Richardson, was obliterated in an incendiary assault.
Police Scotland launched Operation Portaledge in response to the firebomb strikes, leading to over 60 detentions and numerous gang associates receiving substantial jail sentences. They included a sentence of seven years and four months handed down to a 24 year old Edinburgh man for the salon attack and a subsequent garage firebombing in the capital ten days later.
Additionally, the arrests of Lyons and McGill in the Middle East are both understood to form part of the same Portaledge investigation.
McGill, 32, is thought to have forged an alliance with fellow crime boss Steven Lyons whilst residing in Dubai. Last year senior underworld figures, Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons junior, who are both members of the Lyons crime clan, were gunned down in an Irish bar in Fuengirola on Spain’s Costa Del Sol in May.
The men had been viewing the Champions League final in the pub owned by Monaghan when the gunman opened fire. At the time Police Scotland said the double murder was not linked to the ongoing violence in Scotland but they did say that they were helping the Spanish police with their investigation.
45 year old Michael Riley was accused of the murder of the two men, of Lyons, 46, and Monaghan, 43, and was arrested in Liverpool in June, of Lyons, 46, and Monaghan, 43. He was extradited to Spain in October and is now awaiting trial.
Spanish police have blamed the Daniel family for organising the murders. Neither the Crown Office nor Police Scotland could provide details or confirm the three arrests yesterday, with Police Scotland directing the Daily Record to the authorities in Bahrain.
The Foreign Office stated they have not been asked for help. The Bahraini police were also approached for a comment.
