By Chiara Pollock,John-Paul Clark
Copyright glasgowlive
Glasgow gang war kingpin Ross McGill is understood to have been arrested by police in Dubai – alongside a crew of feared Scots mobsters.
Our sister title, the Record, has been told that McGill, 31, Lyons family boss Steven Lyons, 44, and drugs hood Stephen ‘Jimmy’ Jamieson, 42, are among five men arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning amid a crackdown on serious and organised crime in the UAE.
A Lyons crew member and a Rangers Ultra pal of McGill’s are believed to be the other two picked up in the dramatic early-morning raid.
The Record was told by underworld source that it was “only a matter of time” before McGill’s growing notoriety caught up with him and everyone associated with him after he waged war on the streets of Scotland back in March of this year.
One said: “Scottish gangsters hiding out in Dubai should know you have to live the quiet life to not come to the attention of authorities.
“So McGill orchestrating a high-profile war and sharing videos of his antics online has really messed it up for him.
“He will have been getting watched and it was only a matter of time before cops over there got to him.
“Lyons and Jamieson have lived over here for a number of years without any problem, but they’ve been associating with McGill since he arrived and they must really regret that now.”
Another source said: “McGill has been grabbed and police have used his links to Lyons and Jamieson to bring them in too.
“They thought they were lying low enough over there that things wouldn’t catch up with them and they have nothing to do with what McGill has been up to, but when you live the life that they do, you have to know something like this could always be just around the corner.”
A third source said the gangsters’ lawyers have warned them of the risk of extradition.
They said: “Their lawyers were in speaking with them today about it all, going over extradition and how it will work if they’re shipped back to Scotland to face justice.”
Former Union Bear capo McGill fled to the United Arab Emirates in 2022 amidst fears he would be arrested after French cops broke into an encrypted criminal phone network used for drug dealing.
His war broke out earlier this year after hoods working for Edinburgh cocaine boss Mark Richardson bought £500k worth of cocaine from him using fake bank notes.
McGill’s Tamo Junto (TMJ) gang have since been targeting individuals and properties in the capital linked to Richardson and his cronies in a series of terrifying firebombing and shooting attacks.
The thugs have also targeted addresses linked to the notorious Glasgow Daniel family in Glasgow over their association with Richardson – leading to 57 people being arrested by Police Scotland under their Operation Portaledge probe into the war.
Join Glasgow Live’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Steven Lyons fled Scotland in 2006 after hitmen burst into his uncle’s garage in the Lambhill area of Glasgow and opened fire.
He was shot in the leg and his cousin, David, was fatally wounded.
Lyons is understood to have been providing McGill’s TMJ mob with information about the movements of Richardson’s gang and rival clan the Daniel family, but pulled back from the war when his brother Eddie and close pal Ross Monaghan were gunned down in a brutal execution in Spain on May 31.
Scots police have maintained the Costa Del Sol shootings are not linked to the turf war on home soil.
Stephen ‘Jimmy’ Jamieson left Scotland for Dubai in 2013 after being released halfway into an eight year sentence for dealing cocaine.
Jamieson was reported to be lying low in Dubai, running a lucrative business selling designer puppies, but was reportedly involved in a bust-up with pal McGill in a Dubai gym in July – bringing him firmly into scope with cops in the UAE.
Police Scotland said they are not in a position to confirm any arrests in the United Arab Emirates.
The Daily Record approached Dubai Police for comment.
Sign up to our daily Glasgow Live newsletter here to receive news and features direct to your inbox
