Alleged gangster Steven Lyons loses battle to halt extradition to Spain after being arrested in Indonesia
A Scottish gang leader has failed in his bid to avoid extradition to Spain to face organized crime and money laundering charges.
Steven Lyons was arrested in Bali, Indonesia, earlier this year and was being held in a prison in the Netherlands.
But the Amsterdam District Court ruled that he should be sent to Spain after a court in Malaga issued a European Arrest Warrant against him in March.
Lyons’ lawyers argued that he would not be given a fair hearing if he was extradited.
However, the Dutch court, which listed the charges against him as ‘participating in a criminal organization’ and ‘laundering proceeds of crime’, said that ‘there is no general risk of violation of the right to a fair trial’ and that ‘the requested surrender to Spain’ would be allowed.
The court stated that “there is no information indicating that there is a general risk that suspects in criminal cases in Spain will not receive a fair trial” and added that it is up to the Spanish courts to decide whether this right has been “violated”.
It was described as a ‘pivotal moment’ for Spanish authorities after a three-year investigation.
Steven Lyons (centre) was paraded by Indonesian police officers following his arrest in March and now faces extradition to Spain
The 45-year-old Scotsman was arrested after arriving in Bali from Singapore at the end of March.
Indonesian authorities paraded him around in an orange prison uniform as he was led away from the island’s police headquarters, his hands tied with cable ties.
His wife, Amanda, was detained by police in Dubai on the same day for crimes allegedly committed in Spain.
Bali police said Lyons, who had been alerted by Interpol, was allegedly the leader of a ‘large-scale transnational criminal organization engaged in drug trafficking and money laundering’.
Interpol alleged that Lyons was part of a criminal organization operating in countries including Spain, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Türkiye.
The arrest of the Glasgow crime figure comes a day after a Scottish-Spanish operation in which police captured 13 alleged members of the crime syndicate in raids in Scotland, Barcelona and Malaga.
Police Scotland previously said it was aware of the Bali arrest and was working closely with its European partners.
Lyons is expected to be extradited to Spain within a few days.
