Partner of crime boss Steven Lyons arrested in Dubai

The partner of notorious gangland figure Steven Lyons has been arrested in Dubai just days after he was detained by police in Bali.

Amanda Lyons was held over offences alleged to have been committed in Spain.

It is understood her arrest followed an Interpol red alert.

Steven Lyons, 45, was taken into custody on Saturday, shortly after he arrived at Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport on a flight from Singapore.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We are aware of the arrest of a Scottish woman in Dubai and we are working closely with European partners."

On Friday, the joint Scottish-Spanish operation targeted properties in Bellshill, Glasgow, Gartcosh, Whitburn, Caldercruix, Cumbernauld, Coatbridge, Barcelona and the Malaga area.

Officers made eight arrests in Scotland and five in Spain.

The request for Steven Lyons' arrest is believed to have come via Spain's Guardia Civil. BBC Scotland News understands he is now expected to be extradited to Spain.

Steven Lyons is the head of the Lyons clan, which was originally based in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire.

It has been involved in a bloody feud with the rival Glasgow-based Daniel gang for more than 20 years.

It was reported earlier this month that Lyons had been arrested in Bahrain - five months after being released from custody in Dubai.

But in the weeks that followed, details of his whereabouts were shrouded in mystery - until he stepped off a flight in Bali.

In a statement, the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office said: "Based on intelligence data, SL is strongly suspected of being the leader of an international criminal organisation.

"He is suspected of being the mastermind behind the operation of several fictitious companies and of being involved in money laundering."

Steven Lyons is currently being held at the Bali airport's detention centre.

In 2006, Steven Lyons survived a shooting at a garage in Lambhill, in the north of Glasgow, which claimed the life of his cousin, Michael Lyons.

Last May, Steven Lyons' brother, Eddie Lyons Jnr, and Ross Monaghan were shot dead in a beachfront bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol.

Both men had spent the evening watching the Champions League final before they were targeted by a lone gunman.

Michael Riley, 44, from Liverpool, has been accused by Spanish police of the murders.

He had challenged an extradition bid but the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed in October that he had given his consent to be taken to Spain to face prosecution.

In the days after the double shooting, a Spanish National Police detective said the suspect was a member of the rival Daniel gang.

But Police Scotland have maintained there is nothing to suggest the murders in Spain are linked to the ongoing gang war or that it was planned in Scotland.

Police Scotland said the inquiry pre-dated last year's gangland feud in central Scotland which resulted in a series of assaults, shootings and firebombings.

A number of properties were set alight in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas in March before the attacks spread to the west at the beginning of April.

The force launched Operation Portaledge in response and it has so far resulted in more than 60 arrests.

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