Fugitive British Drug Lord and Money Launderer Steven Lyons Captured in Bali

Denpasar, VIVA – The Bali Regional Police, together with the International Relations Division of the National Police and the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, captured a red notice fugitive foreign national, British citizen Steven Lyons (45), at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali.

The Head of the Bali Regional Police, Inspector General of Police Daniel Adityajaya, stated during a press conference in Denpasar on Tuesday that the arrest of the red notice fugitive—an international wanted person issued by the Spanish Police DPO—was carried out on Saturday, 28 March, around 11:58 WITA at the International Arrival Terminal of I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali.

“His role here is as the leader of a large-scale transnational criminal organisation operating in the fields of narcotics trafficking and money laundering in Spain and Great Britain,” Daniel said.

The Head of Criminal Investigation at the Bali Regional Police, Commissioner of Police I Gede Adhi Muliawarman, explained that the arrest of SL is part of ‘Operasi Armourum’, a joint investigation initiated by the Spanish Civil Guard’s Central Operative Unit and the Scottish Police.

In simultaneous operations prior to Steven Lyons’ capture in Bali, European police had arrested 33 members of the Lyons syndicate in Scotland and 12 in Spain.

Stemming from those arrests in Europe, Steven Lyons was reported by the NCB in Abu Dhabi to be heading to Indonesia.

“Based on intelligence information and international cooperation, both from the police and immigration from the central level to Ngurah Rai Immigration, we at the Bali Regional Police, along with the Ngurah Rai Airport Police Resort and Immigration, immediately set up security in the arrival area when the individual arrived,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Bugie Kurniawan, said the red notice subject arrived at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, via Singapore Airlines flight number SQ-938 from Singapore to Denpasar on 28 March 2026.

“During the inspection by the system while undergoing the immigration check process at the immigration inspection point, the system detected that SL is a subject of an Interpol red notice, and based on intelligence data, SL is suspected to be the leader of an international criminal organisation overseeing money laundering and the management of fictitious companies,” he said.