Indonesia to deport Scottish crime boss wanted by Spain

A Scottish man identified as Steven Lyons, who is described as a senior figure in an international crime syndicate (center) is escorted by police officers at the regional police headquarters in Denpasar, Bali [AP Photo]

A Scottish crime boss is to be deported to Spain yesterday after he was arrested on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in connection with large-scale drug trafficking and money laundering, authorities said.

Authorities described the 45-year-old, identified as Steven Lyons, as a senior figure in an international crime syndicate who had spent months on the run.

He was detained on Saturday when he arrived at Bali’s Ngurah Rai international airport from Singapore, Indonesia’s immigration and police authorities said.

The immigration system had flagged Lyons as the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued at Spain’s request. A Red Notice is an alert issued by Interpol at the request of a member country for police worldwide to arrest a suspect for extradition.

Lyons, who is wanted in Spain and the United Kingdom, will be flown to Spain via Doha, said Bugie Kurniawan of Bali’s immigration office.

The alleged leader of the Lyons crime family, based in Scotland, was handed over to Spain’s Civil Guard officers at Ngurah Rai airport ahead of his extradition to Madrid, where prosecutors are seeking to try him on charges in connection with organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, Kurniawan said.

Lyons has been on Spain’s wanted list for about two years, following a murder there in 2024. Bali Police Chief Daniel Adityajaya said the arrest was part of a joint investigation involving Spanish and Scottish police.

According to Untung Widiyatmoko who heads Indonesia’s branch of Interpol, Lyons is alleged to have led a transnational criminal network operating out of Cumbernauld, Scotland, and controlled narcotics trafficking routes from Spain to the U.K. His organized crime ring is suspected of using shell companies for money laundering in Europe and the Middle East — including in Spain, Scotland, England, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain and Turkey.

Widiyatmoko said a day before Lyons’ arrest in Bali, police in Scotland and Spain carried out raids in connection with the case, with the help of Europol, a European Union law enforcement cooperation hub. Several people were arrested, while others were detained in Turkey, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.

Scottish media have reported that Lyons survived a 2006 shooting in Glasgow that killed his cousin and later moved to Spain before settling in Dubai, in the UAE. Last May, his brother and an associate were shot and killed in a suspected gangland shooting at a beachfront bar in Fuengirola, southern Spain. FIRDIA LISNAWATI, DENPASAR, MDT/AP