Police say ‘no intelligence' to suggest hit in Irish pub in Spain was planned in Scotland

Belfast Telegraph

3 days ago

Police Scotland said the attack that claimed the lives of Eddie Lyons Junior and Ross Monaghan did not appear to be linked with an outbreak of violence between rival gangs in Scotland
Police investigating the brutal gun deaths of two Scottish gangsters at an Irish pub on the Costa del Sol have said there is "no intelligence' to suggest the hit had been planned in Scotland.
In a statement, Police Scotland said the attack that claimed the lives of Eddie Lyons Junior and Ross Monaghan did not appear to be linked with an outbreak of violence between rival gangs in Scotland.
However, sources told Sunday World the hit may be connected with a six-figure drugs debt that the two men owed.
Scottish police said the investigation into the fatal shootings in Fuengirola 'is being carried out by Spanish police'.
'Police Scotland is supporting Spanish police where requested, however, at this time we have no officers deployed within Spain,' a statement reads.
There is currently no intelligence to suggest the deaths of these two men in Spain are linked to the recent criminal attacks in Scotland being investigated as part of Operation Portaledge.
'Any misinformation or speculation linking the events in Spain are not helpful to the ongoing investigations in either country.
'There is also nothing to suggest that the shooting in Fuengirola was planned from within Scotland.'
So far more than 40 people have been arrested in connection with the incidents as part of Operation Portaledge that is investigating a suspected gang feud linked with a number of shootings, fire bombings and assaults in the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas since March.
Both men died after a gunman opened fire outside Monaghans Bar in Fuengirola, Malaga on Saturday at around 11pm.
One report suggests that a car pulled up outside the bar and a masked man got out before opening fire on the two as they stood outside the venue.
The gunman then fled in the car, leaving both men dying at the scene.
However, local media is reporting that police are searching for a blond man as the shooter who arrived on foot with his face covered and, after fleeing, got into a vehicle that fled towards Benalmádena .
The Forensic Investigation team and the National Police's Organised Crime Unit (UDYCO) are working to identify the perpetrator of the crime and "will find the culprit," according to Javier Salas, the central government's deputy delegate in Malaga.
Officers in charge of the investigation are gathering information and evidence from testimony collected on-site and from asking witnesses to come to the police station to confirm their statements, Salas told the Herald of Aragon.
They are also attempting to secure security camera footage from where the shooting took place and this will have to analysed, Salas added.
The deputy delegate is convinced that the shooter will eventually be identified.
"I have no doubt that the person responsible for the two murders, who arrived and left the pub on foot with his face covered, will be identified and located, as happens in 90 per cent of cases that occur in the province of Malaga,' Sala said, according to the Herald.
Although Spanish cops are convinced there was only one shooter, the investigation will determine whether there were more people involved 'who could have collaborated with him'.
'However, the available data indicates that only one person entered and shot the two British citizens, who died practically instantly,' the Herald reports.
Regarding security, Salas stressed that in Málaga there are "more resources and more police officers than ever before' who have 'the best techniques and the best materials" at their disposal to carry out the investigation and fight crime.
Salas stated that the scientific investigation team is "one of the best" in Spain.
Several police unions and policymakers have expressed concern about what they consider an escalation of violence on the Cost del Sol.
The Spanish Police Confederation (CEP) has claimed "the escalation of violence and the lack of human and material resources' is proof the National Police is "abandoned by the government in the province of Málaga."