![\"Steven](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_CapturePNG.png\")
<\/p>\nMorrissey was held in September 2022 at an apartment near Marbella on suspicion of money laundering and membership of a criminal gang.<\/p>\n
14:42, 12 Apr 2026Updated 15:51, 12 Apr 2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Steven Lyons was arrested in Bali(Image: AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The police operation that led to the arrest of Kinahan crime cartel <\/a>\u2018key member\u2019 Johnny Morrissey was key to the takedown of the ruthless Lyons gang.<\/p>\n British-born Irish passport holder Morrissey <\/a>was held in September 2022 at an apartment near Marbella on suspicion of money laundering and membership of a criminal gang. His Glasgow-born wife Nicola was also arrested in the Spanish Civil Guard operation, led by the force\u2019s elite Central Operative Unit.<\/p>\n The pair remain under investigation but are yet to be told if they will be formally charged <\/a>and are currently on bail. Their arrests followed a much-celebrated police infiltration of EncroChat, an encrypted communications service widely used by criminals, between March and June 2020.<\/p>\n Overnight Spanish police sources <\/a>said Operation Whitewall, an international investigation aimed at breaking the Kinahan Organised Crime Group\u2019s financial operations which led to Morrissey\u2019s arrest, and Operation Armorum which resulted in 15 arrests including those of Lyons gang leader Steven Lyons and his wife Amanda, were \u201cintrinsically linked.\u201d<\/p>\n Nicola Morrissey and hubby Johnny were arrested by Spanish police(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\n One said: \u201cOperation Armorum<\/a> comes from Operation Whitewall and the information obtained in that earlier operation from the infiltration of Encrochat which gave law enforcement real-time access to messages and helped to dismantle major organised crime groups.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of information about the Lyons gang has come from the intelligence investigators <\/a>got from the operation against Morrissey. Morrissey and Steven Lyons relied on each other’s services.<\/p>\n \u201cMorrissey was described as the Kinahans\u2019 banker after his arrest but it wasn\u2019t just the Kinahans <\/a>he allegedly assisted.\u201d<\/p>\n The Spanish Civil Guard, which was supported from other police forces including the Garda and National Crime Agency, said at the time of dad-of-two Morrissey\u2019s arrest they believed he had allegedly helped crime gangs<\/a> launder up to EUROS 350,000 (POUNDS 297,000) a day over the 18 months their investigation lasted.<\/p>\n Steven Lyons<\/p>\n The informal Hawala method of moving money said to have been used, originating from an Arabic <\/a>term for transfer or trust and involving a network of brokers, is known to have been adopted by criminal gangs who use code numbers or tokens like banknotes torn in half to prove cash is due.<\/p>\n The former Rochdale doorman was accused by police of using a firm called Nero Drinks to camouflage his alleged criminal activities. The Lyons gang, who police have estimated laundered more than \u00a326 million, allegedly used several firms including a food and drinks firm <\/a>and a rental car company to \u2018wash\u2019 dirty money.<\/p>\n The Civil Guard described it as a \u201chighly sophisticated criminal organisation<\/a> characterised by violence\u201d in their first statement since the deportation of Steven Lyons from Bali and his subsequent detention on a European Arrest Warrant in Amsterdam on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The 45-year-old is now facing extradition to Spain so he can be formally quizzed by a Malaga-based judge on suspicion of crimes of money laundering and membership of a criminal gang ahead of expected charges. His glamorous moll wife Amanda, 38, was held at Dubai\u2019s airport <\/a>at the request of Spanish police who remain confident she will also end up in custody on the Costa del Sol after being extradited along with her husband.<\/p>\n Seven other suspects were arrested during recent Operation Armorum <\/a>raids in Spain, which took place mostly on the Costa del Sol but also in Barcelona. Several people were also arrested in Scotland.<\/p>\n Amanda Lyons(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\n Sources close to the case against Morrissey have previously admitted the probe was proving \u201ccomplex\u201d and declined to offer any information on when they thought the investigating <\/a>magistrate could recommend charges and indictments might be submitted.<\/p>\n In November 2024 it emerged investigators probing the 66-year-old, released <\/a>on bail in June that year, had called on Dubai for help where the Kinahans are hiding out and Lyons lived for several years before he fled to the Far East after leaving his previous base in Spain.<\/p>\n One well-placed insider said at the time of the probe against Morrissey: \u201cThe investigation is proving to be complex and has international ramifications. This is slowing things down.\u201d<\/p>\n Another said: \u201cThe court that\u2019s leading this investigation is awaiting the results of a rogatory <\/a>commission sent to Dubai.\u201d<\/p>\n Morrissey <\/a>had to swap millionaire mansions and meet and greets with celebs for a tiny jail cell after being arrested in a dawn raid alongside his wife on September 12 2022.<\/p>\n He was held six months after the US Treasury identified him in a list of Kinahan cartel key members, saying: \u201cMorrissey has worked for the Kinahan organised crime group for several years, including as an enforcer, and facilitates international drug shipments for the organisation from South America.<\/p>\n \u201cJohn Morrissey <\/a>is also involved in money laundering.\u201d<\/p>\n Morrissey was released from prison after lodging a \u00a352,000 bail bond. Officials <\/a>said at the time his release conditions included a ban on leaving the country and the surrender of his passport, an obligation to sign on at court twice a month and the designation of an address so he could receive court notifications.<\/p>\n![\"Nicola](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776067078_496_0_CapturePNG.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Steven](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776067079_553_0_CapturePNG.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Amanda](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776067085_293_0_CapturePNG.png\")
<\/p>\n