Dubai’s glittering towers, tax-free wages, and unbroken desert sunshine create an irresistible lure for thousands of British expats each year. Its futuristic skylines and luxury shopping malls are symbols of prosperity and modernity. However, behind this glossy façade, Dubai has long attracted a much darker, shadier clientele.
For over a decade, the city has been a haven for drug traffickers, money launderers, fugitives, and sanctions-dodgers. These individuals have often operated with tacit support from local authorities, leading to perceptions of Dubai as a kind of pariah state. Among these were four Scots linked to the highest echelons of UK and international organized crime: Steven Lyons, Ross McGill, Stephen Jamieson, and Steven Larwood. Their names are tied to a decades-old gangland feud that recently escalated into a horrifying wave of firebombings and shootings throughout Scotland and beyond.
These ‘untouchable’ crime lords reportedly controlled their operations and enforced brutal retributions from Dubai. The city’s widespread corruption allegedly gave them impunity to conduct their illicit activities, shielded from legal consequences. However, this situation changed abruptly mid-last month. Without prior warning, Emirati authorities launched dramatic early-morning raids, arresting the four men. They were imprisoned briefly before being told to gather their families and belongings and leave the country. This sudden move surprised many in the criminal underworld.
The expulsions raise many questions: Why target these particular individuals now? What motivated the change in Dubai’s approach? While it might be tempting to see this as part of a broader crackdown on organized crime, experts doubt this narrative. Many other criminals continue to operate discreetly, untouched by law enforcement. Instead, the four Scots’ downfall appears linked to their drawing too much unwanted attention to Dubai.
Dubai’s appeal to gang bosses is clear. Historically, it has avoided judicial cooperation with Western nations, allowing criminals to freely run their operations from its luxury villas and skyscrapers without fear of extradition. Europol has described Dubai as a “remote coordination hub” for Europe’s drug trade, with traffickers openly laundering money through luxury goods and real estate. Significantly, Dubai’s low crime rate provides a safer environment for criminals, protecting them from attacks or theft despite their violent reputations in Europe.
For Dubai’s rulers, dirty money was once beneficial, underpinning the emirate’s burgeoning economy and real estate market. Yet their tolerance has its limits, as recent chaos attributed to Ross McGill—the former head of Rangers Football Club’s ultras fan group, the Union Bears—tested their patience. McGill’s provocative attacks ignited intense violence and international scrutiny, forcing a response.
Sources reveal that the four arrested gangsters were taken from their lavish homes blindfolded and held in a secret desert prison unmarked on official maps. They endured harsh conditions: filthy cells, constant lighting to prevent sleep, minimal food, and strict restrictions even during meals and restroom use. They faced intense interrogations by specialist officers over several days. Released after 12 days, they were ordered to leave the country immediately, each departing on different flights to unknown destinations.
Dr. Andreas Krieg, an associate professor at King’s College London specializing in the Middle East, suggests that the UAE aims to rehabilitate its image after being gray-listed by the Financial Action Task Force for insufficient anti-money laundering measures in 2022. The emirates have since implemented softer power tactics to present themselves as responsible global actors, extraditing certain criminals and collaborating with European investigations.
Despite this, Dr. Krieg notes, the UAE maintains an open jurisdictional stance, welcoming all who bring economic benefit, regardless of how they earned their wealth—unless their presence causes excessive reputational risk. In such cases, Dubai will clamp down, as it did with these Scottish gangsters.
The current locations of the four expelled Scots remain a mystery. South America is a likely refuge given the Lyons family’s connections with powerful drug cartels there. Alternatively, Larwood, with a cocaine-supply conviction, may have fled to Turkey, while Steven Lyons possibly returned to Spain, where he once lived before Dubai. Such movements are risky: Lyons’ brother and a close associate were violently executed in Spain just months ago.
The chilling saga of these men extends beyond Dubai. The Lyons and Daniel families have waged a brutal and long-running gang feud centered around Glasgow neighborhoods like Possil, Milton, and Lambhill. This ongoing turf war—bitter, lethal, and Mafia-like—has persisted since 2001, sparked by the theft of cocaine from the Daniel clan. Over the years, it has seen murderous ambushes, kidnappings, and a succession of violent retaliations that escalated in scale and brutality.
Steven Lyons, head of his family’s criminal empire, fled to Spain after a shooting in 2006, forging ties with Daniel Kinahan, heir to a massive drug cartel. Together, they shifted their focus to Dubai, where they aimed to seize control of Edinburgh’s drug trade from Daniel-backed groups. McGill joined them in Dubai after fleeing potential arrest in Europe and was integrated into the Lyons’ circle.
This alliance’s shadowy reach extended to other notorious figures, including James White, a Glasgow crime boss linked to large-scale drug smuggling involving Brazil. White was eventually extradited and sentenced in Scotland, while the fate of his associates remains grim.
Tensions flared within the group, notably between McGill and Jamieson, who had relocated to Dubai after a prison sentence. A violent clash between them in a Dubai gym preceded their arrests alongside Lyons and Larwood.
The violence orchestrated by McGill’s TMJ group—a youth gang assaulting Daniel-linked targets with arson and machetes—heightened international alarm. Videos of these attacks spread online, exposing Dubai as a supposed safe haven now under the global microscope.
Steven Lyons reportedly supplied intelligence on rivals but distanced himself after violent reprisals claimed his brother’s life in Spain. Meanwhile, Scottish police intensified efforts to combat the violence, making dozens of arrests under Operation Portaledge and vowing to pursue criminal leaders abroad.
Dubai once offered a sanctuary for such criminals, but that era appears fading. For Lyons, McGill, Jamieson, and Larwood, their expulsion marks not an end, but a perilous new chapter—wherever they land, vigilance and danger will follow closely behind.
