SCOTLAND’S deadly gang war is drawing in some of the most dangerous cocaine mafias on the Costa del Sol.
The long-running feud between the Lyons and Daniel clans, blamed for the double slaying of two bosses of the former in Fuengirola earlier this year, is set to spiral further as key players up the ante.
Fugitive boss Steven Lyons, 44, is said to be plotting revenge for the murders of his brother Eddie Lyons Jr and close ally Ross Monaghan, who were gunned down while watching the Champions League final in Monaghan’s Bar last May.
Police sources believe the Lyons gang has now struck ties with the Mocro Maffia, a Dutch-Moroccan cartel that controls much of Europe’s cocaine trade through southern Spain and Morocco.
According to reports in Scotland’s Daily Record, Lyons has ‘broken the truce’ and vowed to take out senior figures in the rival Daniel clan, including Steven ‘Bonzo’ Daniel and Zander Sutherland, the son of late kingpin Jamie Daniel.
He was arrested and expelled from Dubai in September alongside associates Ross McGill, Stephen ‘Jimmy’ Jamieson and Steven ‘Larry’ Larwood, as part of a crackdown on European gang bosses.
Since then, his whereabouts are unknown.
READ MORE: Man suspected of gunning down two gangsters in Costa del Sol bar to be extradited to Spain
Spanish intelligence believes McGill’s group, known as Tamo Junto, has forged links with relatives of Ridouan Taghi, the jailed Dutch-Moroccan drug lord who controls routes from Morocco through Algeciras and Malaga into northern Europe.
That alliance could give the Scots access to Spain’s cocaine pipeline – and to the laundering networks that make the Costa del Sol a magnet for foreign crime groups.
Sources believe Lyons has been moving between Spain, Morocco and southern France since his deportation, using the coast’s villas and bars to meet allies and hide assets.
Police in Scotland and Spain are watching closely but say there is no sign yet that the feud will erupt again on Spanish soil.
Even so, they fear that the logistics behind the violence – the money, safehouses and routes – are now deeply rooted in the country.
The Lyons–Daniel feud has haunted Glasgow since the early 2000s, leaving a trail of killings and attempted hits.
But this time, investigators warn, it’s not just a Scottish problem. The Costa del Sol, once again, sits on the edge of Europe’s next gangland storm.
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