Rising gangland violence is being fuelled by ‘dangerously complacent’ SNP ministers – leading to a ‘reign of narco terror’, it was claimed yesterday.
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay spoke out after two Scottish gangsters were gunned down in a Spanish pub.
Ross Monaghan and Eddie Lyons Jnr were fatally shot last Saturday in Fuengirola, a city on the Costa del Sol.
The killings prompted speculation that the killings are linked to a gangland feud that has raged across the Central Belt since March – something which Police Scotland tried to play down earlier this week.
Last night Mr Findlay said: ‘Whether these gangland assassinations were ordered from Scotland or directly linked to the ongoing drugs war in Scotland should be established by the Spanish police along with their UK colleagues.
‘What is beyond doubt is that both of these individuals were active participants in the deadly turf war that has been raging across Scotland since 2001 and has caused untold misery to innocent people.
‘The police know the identity of the millionaire crime bosses, their violent foot soldiers and their white collar enablers.
‘Dangerously complacent SNP ministers need to give officers the tools they need to end this reign of narco terror being inflicted on Scottish communities.’
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay urged SNP ministers to equip Police Scotland to deal with a rising tide of violence linked to organised crime
Police Scotland estimated last year that there were 68 known organised crime groups in Scotland – and 13 of these are in Glasgow.
On Tuesday, Police Scotland said there is ‘currently no intelligence to suggest the deaths of these two men in Spain are linked to the recent criminal attacks’ in Scotland.
A Police Scotland spokesman 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.
‘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.’
Holidaymakers looked on in horror as a masked hitman stormed into a Costa Del Sol pub to shoot Monaghan, 43, and Lyons Jnr, 46, at point-blank range.
Ross Monaghan, right, and Eddie Lyons Jnr were fatally shot last Saturday in Fuengirola, Spain
The ambush is said to have happened as the senior members of the Lyons crime clan watched the Champions League Final on TV.
Sources claim gangsters from the rival Daniels crime group had devised a plot to target the two men at a summit just days earlier.
It followed weeks of attacks on their associates, including a 12-year-old boy and pensioners.
One insider told the Scottish Sun: ‘The hitman got his orders after the meeting to take them both out.
‘They knew that Monaghan and Lyons were a bit complacent and could be got at.’
Meanwhile, Ana Mula, mayor of Fuengirola, said she wants to ‘reinforce’ collaboration between local and national police forces following the shootings.
She revealed the Spanish resort is ill-equipped to tackle serious crime and demanded more resources and police specialised in organised crime to ‘improve the response to the growing phenomenon of gang fights related to drug trafficking on the Costa del Sol’.
She said: ‘We live in a world and at a time when crime knows no borders.
‘And in places like the Costa del Sol, phenomena are occurring which, by expansion, affect us irremediably.
‘That is why our determination is to tackle it without hot air, to put all possible threats on the table and to prepare ourselves to face this new context, with the means at our disposal, with the best guarantees.’
The mayor pointed out that the main police unions have been calling for more material and human resources to combat criminal activity.
She announced that a plan to reinforce the local police is being studied in order to increase their presence and effectiveness.
These measures will form part of the special operation that the police force sets up every summer in the city for the high tourist season.
