The crime boss is believed to have travelled to Russia after being booted out of Qatar by authorities.
20:31, 07 Mar 2026Updated 20:48, 07 Mar 2026
Crime boss Ross McGill(Image: UGC)
Scots gangster Ross McGill is understood to have been booted out of Qatar by authorities after testing positive for cannabis.
We revealed earlier this week that McGill, 32, and Steven Lyons, 45, had been arrested and held in police custody in the Middle East.
An insider living in Qatar told the Record the former Union Bears leader had been flitting between gulf states after being booted out of Dubai last year.
However, after testing positive for cannabis, following what was believed to be a routine drug test, McGill is understood to have been ejected from Qatar yesterday and is is now understood to have travelled to Russia..
Ross McGill
The source said: “McGill was trying to keep his head down and had been trying to live a quiet life and stay out of trouble.
“He’d been moving between Qatar and Bahrain but these place aren’t like Dubai so he was happy enough with that and trying to live a quiet life for a while.
“His criminal enterprise had completely stopped too so he was stunned when he was arrested but the authorities in Qatar don’t tolerate drugs, even cannabis.
“McGill wasn’t even found with anything on him but just testing positive was enough and he was told to get out of the country and never return.
“He has obviously decided to get as far away from the region as possible and headed to Russia.”
McGill fled Scotland in 2022 after the Encrochat messaging service used by crooks across the globe was hacked by cops in France.
He moved to Spain but fearing a European arrest warrant was about to be issued he headed to Dubai at the end of 2023 and started to mix with cartel bosses.
His drug dealing operation boomed but after a cocaine deal was paid for using fake bank notes, Ross McGill’s Tamo Junto (TMJ) gang went to war with mob boss Richardson and his associates in Edinburgh in March of last year.
Tamo Junto thug pours petrol on a door. (Image: UGC)
His Tamo Junto (TMJ) crew firebombed properties linked to their rivals in Edinburgh and shot at windows throughout that month, before moving on to target the Daniel crime clan in Glasgow due to their association with Richardson.
The Lyons mob from the north of Glasgow also entered the feud due to the long standing war with the Daniel clan.
In September, Lyons and McGill were arrested in Dubai and booted out of the desert state.
Police Scotland has arrested over 60 people as part of their Operation Portaledge probe into the gang war and a number of people have been given lengthy jail sentences.
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