Major Scottish gangland figures released after Dubai arrest

Steven Lyons (left) and Ross McGill were arrested in Dubai earlier this month

Three of Scotland's most high-profile gangland figures who were arrested in Dubai last month have been released.

BBC Scotland News understands Steven Lyons, Ross McGill and Steven Larwood are no longer in custody in the UAE.

But a fourth man, Stephen Jamieson, who was detained during the same raids on 16 September, is still being held.

Jamieson has links to Jamie "Iceman" Stevenson, who was last year jailed for orchestrating a plot to smuggle cocaine worth £100m from South America in boxes of bananas.

Stephen Jamieson is an associate of Jamie "Iceman" Stevenson (pictured). He is currently serving a 16-year sentence after admitting being involved in the supply of cocaine

Police Scotland believe all four are linked to criminality ranging from drug importation to a feud between rival criminal gangs in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The dispute has resulted in a series of assaults, shootings and firebombings since March.

BBC Scotland News has made several attempts to obtain information from Dubai without success and the grounds on which the men were arrested remains shrouded in mystery.

But the Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) has now said: "We are supporting the family of a British national who is detained in the UAE."

That individual is believed to be Jamieson.

BBC Scotland News understands Larwood's family were receiving consular support but that is no longer the case.

It is also understood no approach was made to the FCDO by relatives of Lyons or McGill.

Police Scotland detectives had been sharing intelligence with police in the United Arab Emirates, where the men were all based.

But it is thought officers in Scotland were not made aware of the Dubai raids in advance.

A number of major international organised criminals are now based in Dubai

Detectives working on Operation Portaledge, which was set up in response to the gang violence across Scotland's central belt from Glasgow to Edinburgh, have so far made 57 arrests.

Sources previously said the men were "operating at the highest level of organised crime" both at a UK and a global level.

Steven Lyons is the head of the Lyons crime group, which has been involved in a bloody feud with the rival Daniel clan for more than 20 years.

In 2006 he survived a shooting at a garage in Lambhill, in the north of Glasgow, which claimed the life of his cousin, Michael Lyons.

He later moved to Spain before settling in Dubai.

A double funeral was held for Eddie Lyons Jnr (left) and Ross Monaghan in Bishopbriggs in July

In May, Steven Lyons' brother, Eddie Lyons Jnr, and Ross Monaghan were shot dead in a beachfront bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol.

Both men had spent the evening watching the Champions League final before they were targeted by a lone gunman.

Michael Riley, 44, from Liverpool, has been accused by Spanish police of the murders.

He had challenged an extradition bid but the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed he had given his consent to be taken to Spain to face prosecution last week.

He was taken to Madrid's Barajas Airport on Wednesday by specialist officers from the National Crime Agency's national extradition unit.

A Spanish court source said that Mr Riley appeared before a judge overnight and was remanded to a jail in Madrid.

Remand prisoners can be held for up to two years without charge in Spain, although two-year extensions can be added in exceptional cases.

In the days after the double shooting a Spanish National Police detective said the suspect was a member of the rival Glasgow-based Daniel gang.

But Police Scotland have maintained there is nothing to suggest the murders in Spain are linked to the ongoing gang war or that it was planned in Scotland.

McGill first became known to police for his activities while a senior member of Rangers ultras group, the Union Bears.

But since March he has emerged as a key figure in the gangland feud which has been responsible for a wave of violence in the east and west of the country.

BBC Scotland News understands it was triggered by a fall out between McGill and Edinburgh drug dealer Mark Richardson, who is currently in prison.

Larwood is a known associate of Lyons and previously lived in Spain before relocating to Dubai, where Jamieson has also been based for some time.