Authorities have deported a high-profile Interpol fugitive from Scotland, 10 days after his arrest at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali.
Ngurah Rai Immigration office head Bugie Kurniawan said Steven Lyons, 45, was flown to Amsterdam on Tuesday via Jakarta.
“He was escorted by Indonesian Immigration officers along with personnel from the Secretariat of Indonesia’s National Central Bureau (NCB) Interpol,” Bugie said on Wednesday, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
Lyons was arrested at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport on March 28 upon arrival from Singapore, after officers identified him on Interpol’s wanted list.
NCB Interpol Indonesia Secretary Untung Widyatmoko said on March 31 that Lyons is allegedly a high-profile criminal who has operated across Spain, Scotland, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain and Turkiye.
“He is the leader of a criminal cartel allegedly involved in murder, drug trafficking and money laundering,” Untung said.
Lyons was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued on March 26.
“The arrest was part of an international operation known as ‘Operation Armorum’, led by Spain’s Guardia Civil, which aims to dismantle Lyons’ criminal network,” Untung added.
Lyons is alleged to be the leader of the Lyons crime family, one of Scotland’s most prominent organised crime groups, BBC reported.
Authorities say Lyons allegedly headed a Scotland-based transnational network that controlled drug trafficking routes between Spain and the United Kingdom.
Lyons has been on Spain’s wanted list for nearly two years in connection with a fatal shooting in 2024.
In the lead-up to his arrest in Bali, the police in Scotland and Spain conducted a series of coordinated raids targeting suspected members of the network.
The BBC reported that Lyons is currently being held in the Netherlands under a European Arrest Warrant issued by a judge in Malaga. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
