BBC Scotland home affairs correspondent
SPINDRIFTA man suspected of murdering two senior figures from a Scottish organised crime group in a Spanish bar has been arrested.
The BBC understands Michael Riley was taken into custody in Liverpool by Merseyside Police under an international arrest warrant issued by the Spanish authorities.
Ross Monaghan, 43, and Eddie Lyons Jnr, 46, were shot dead at Monaghans Bar in Fuengirola in the Costa Del Sol on 31 May.
Both men were connected to the Lyons family, a major organised crime group based in the west of Scotland.
The two men had been watching the Champions League final with friends when they were targeted at the bar on the Andalusian town’s beachfront.
According to medical reports, Eddie Lyons Jnr died after being hit by a single bullet outside the bar in front of friends and customers.
CCTV also showed the gunman pursuing Monaghan inside the pub and firing more shots, leaving him fatally injured.
Scottish detectives have been helping the Spanish police with their investigation, providing information on the men’s backgrounds.
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, including alleged attempted murders and firebombings.
The force also said there was nothing to suggest that the shooting was planned in Scotland.
The Lyons clan have been locked in a long-running feud with the rival Daniels family.
Monaghan was previously linked to the high-profile killing of feared Glasgow gangland figure Kevin ‘Gerbil’ Carroll, an enforcer for the Daniels.
He was accused of the murder in a Glasgow supermarket car park in 2010, 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 later.
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.
