SpindriftThe gunman who murdered two senior members of the Lyons crime group on the Costa del Sol was a member of the rival Glasgow-based Daniel gang, Spanish police have said.
Ross Monaghan, 43, and Eddie Lyons Jnr, 46, were shot dead in a bar in Fuengirola on 31 May.
Three days later, Police Scotland said there was no intelligence to suggest the murders were linked to an ongoing gang war which has resulted in series of assaults, shootings and firebombings across Glasgow and Edinburgh.
But on Tuesday the Spanish National Police revealed Monaghan and Lyons Jnr were targeted by a professional killer from the Daniel crime group.
The Spanish authorities have requested the extradition of the suspect, 44-year-old Michael Riley, after he was arrested by Merseyside Police in the Liverpool area on Friday.
Monaghan and Lyons Jnr were connected to the Lyons family, a major organised crime group based in the west of Scotland.
They had been drinking and watching the Champions League final in Monaghans Bar, on the town’s beachfront, at the time of the targeted attack.
Chief Supt Pedro Agudo Novo, head of the Malaga provincial judicial police unit, spoke at a press conference in the city on Tuesday.
The senior officer said the murders had been carried out with a “high degree of professionalism”.
Chief Supt Agudo Novo described the suspect as an “internal member of the rival Daniels gang” who had meticulously planned the shootings.
He told reporters Lyons Jnr had been shot and killed at while he sat at a table outside the bar.
But he revealed the gunman’s weapon then jammed, allowing Monaghan to attempt an escape inside the bar.
The killer, who had covered his face with a cap and a scarf, pursued Monaghan inside before firing two shots which proved fatal.
He then fled the scene using a route, which included a train tunnel, where there were few security cameras.
Chief Supt Agudo Novo said the alleged gunman fled to Portugal from Spain by land, before boarding a flight to Leeds.
He then changed addresses three times on his return to England before he was tracked down in Liverpool under an international arrest warrant.
Investigators believe he was preparing to flee the UK for a “paradise island,” where no extradition treaty was available, but they did not disclose the exact location.
Chief Supt Agudo Novo said: “The double murder was carried out by a professional killer and member of one of the victims’ rival gangs.
“In this case we’re not talking about an independent hired killer but an internal member of the rival Daniels gang who ends up assassinating two members of an enemy gang.”
Police in Spain said they were hopeful of making more arrests, but believed the gunman had acted alone.
Ch Insp Juan Antonio Sillero, from the specialist Udyco Costa del Sol police unit, which also led the operation to track down the alleged double killer, said he believed both Monaghan and Lyons Jnr were the intended targets.
He said the alleged attacker “changed his physical appearance” including shaving his face to avoid being recognised.
Spanish police are yet to formally name Riley, but did acknowledge the suspect was “English, not Scottish”.
Riley appeared at Westminster Magistrate’s Court in London on Saturday and has been remanded in custody while the authorities pursue an extradition bid.
Long-running feud
Scottish detectives had been helping the Spanish police with their investigation, providing information on the men’s backgrounds.
The Lyons clan have been locked in a long-running feud with the rival Daniels family.
Monaghan was previously linked to the murder of feared gangland enforcer Kevin ‘Gerbil’ Carroll, who was shot dead in a Glasgow supermarket car park in 2010.
He was accused of the murder, which was carried out in front of lunchtime shoppers, but was later acquitted due to a lack of evidence.
Monaghan was himself later shot in the shoulder as he dropped his daughter off at school in Glasgow in 2017.
He is believed to have moved to Spain a short time after that incident.
Lyons Jnr was also shot and wounded in an attack in 2006, which was believed to have been carried out by Carroll.
The two groups have traded a number of violent attacks for about 20 years.
In the wake of the killings, Police Scotland issued a statement saying there was no intelligence to suggest the deaths were linked to an ongoing gangland feud in the east and west of Scotland’s central belt.
More than 40 people have been arrested following a series of violent incidents since March.
