Drug kingpin gunned down in Costa del Sol bar with Scottish gangster was 'seen as top dog by rival cartels' - before having £250k bounty put on his head

Daily Mail​

9 hours ago

A notorious British gangland figure who was gunned down in a brutal double shooting on the Costa del Sol is believed to have had a £250,000 contract placed on his life amid growing tensions with a rival Spanish drugs crew.
Ross Monaghan, 43, long associated with Glasgow 's violent Lyons crime family, was assassinated alongside fellow mobster Eddie Lyons Jr, 46, outside a bar he owned in Fuengirola, southern Spain.
Both men were executed in a chilling hit just moments after watching the Champions League final last Saturday night while on a golfing holiday with twelve buddies.
Sources say Monaghan had become a key decision-maker in the Lyons operation, wielding major influence over its drugs operations from his base on the Costa, and was even seen by some as more powerful than figurehead Steven Lyons.
He also allegedly acted as a liaison with Ireland's feared Kinahan cartel, forging ties with the notorious Dublin-based outfit that has been linked to multiple murders and a multimillion pound drug empire.
Insiders now claim Monaghan had become such a prominent figure that rival gangs viewed him as a top-level target, with one English-linked syndicate reportedly warning of a £250,000 hit being planned in the weeks leading up to his death.
'Eddie's brother Steven is often seen as boss of the Lyons gang but, in reality, Ross Monaghan was on an equal footing,' one source told the Scottish Sun.
'He sometimes made more big decisions to the point some joked it should be called the Monaghan gang instead of the Lyons.'
Authorities believe the hitman knew exactly who he was going after, cornering Monaghan inside his own bar after first shooting Lyons in the street outside.
CCTV footage released earlier this week by Spanish police shows the moment that a desperate Monaghan attempts to crawl away to safety, with a deathly red stain seeping across his otherwise pristine white T-shirt.
Police in Spain are reportedly aware of the suspected gunman's identity but have not confirmed which crew ordered the hit. One theory is that the execution stemmed from an unpaid debt involving a rival Spanish cartel with links to England.
Despite speculation linking the murders to ongoing feuds in Scotland, including the decades-long war between the Lyons and Daniels gangs, Police Scotland has denied any intelligence suggesting the killings were ordered from the UK.
'There is currently no evidence connecting the Fuengirola shootings to recent violence in Scotland,' a spokesperson said. 'We are assisting Spanish authorities as required.'
Monaghan, once cleared in the high-profile 2010 murder of Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll in Glasgow, had previously survived a 2017 assassination attempt while dropping off his child at school.
Former Scottish crime chief Graeme Pearson said Monaghan's ability to survive and stay one step ahead of rivals had cemented his status in the gangland world.
''His group became known for extreme violence. Being acquitted from a murder trial through lack of evidence proved his bottle to the gang.
'Then he was shot and survived. It was part of his criminal CV. But people like Monaghan make enemies everywhere.'
Both Monaghan and Lyons were acquitted in a 2017 street assault case and had since relocated to Spain — a region increasingly dominated by organised crime groups from across Europe.
The murders come amid rising gangland violence on the Costa del Sol, with at least four shootings reported in April alone.
Just weeks ago, a British man from Liverpool was shot dead in nearby Calahonda in another suspected drug feud.
Meanwhile, the long-running war between the Lyons and Daniels clans in Glasgow and Edinburgh continues, with firebombings and brutal beatings allegedly linked to stolen cocaine shipments worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Some reports suggest the Lyons may have aligned with Dubai-based kingpin Ross 'Miami' McGill, an alleged rival of Daniels associate Mark Richardson.
Social media videos have even surfaced showing apparent revenge attacks fuelling fears of further bloodshed.
But sources close to the Monaghan family insist the Daniels were not responsible for last week's killings, suggesting a new, more sinister force may be emerging within Spain's lucrative underworld.
The brutal daylight assassinations have also sparked outrage among local residents. British expats in Fuengirola held a protest on Friday, demanding a crackdown on organised crime and greater police presence on the streets.
Monaghan's bar, which markets itself as a 'family-friendly sports bar' opposite one of the town's most popular beaches, remains closed as the investigation continues.