British fugitive arrested in Spain after police found illegal underground tobacco factory
Written by News on 21/02/2020
A British prisoner who absconded from a jail in South Yorkshire in November 2018 has been arrested in Spain by police investigating an illegal secret underground tobacco factory.
Daniel Dobbs, from Malton in North Yorkshire, was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in January 2014 after he was convicted of trafficking heroin and amphetamines.
The 31-year-old – nicknamed “Dobbo” by his friends – disappeared from his cell at HMP Hatfield Lakes, which is a category D open prison.
Last year, the National Crime Agency (NCA) tracked him down to Spain where he was living under a false name.
On 11 February he was detained by Spanish police in Monda, near Malaga.
The facility, complete with machinery that could produce up to 3,500 cigarettes an hour, was hidden in a maze of tunnels accessible only through a trapdoor covered with hay in a stable block, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.
Dobbs was allegedly part of the gang behind the operation, which is said to be the first of its kind found in the European Union.
Europol, the EU agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, said the plant generated more than £500,000 (635,000 euros) in criminal profits per week.
Dobbs was held along with 19 other people, mostly from Britain, suspected of being involved.
Police seized more than three million cigarettes, 20kg of hashish, 144kg of marijuana, three weapons, and GPS tracking and jamming devices.
Authorities said the facility, operating since 2019, included bunkbeds and living quarters for workers, who were forced to work in dangerous and toxic conditions and were not allowed to leave on their own.
“Once inside, the police agents saw with great surprise the six workers who were struggling to breathe in an utterly insalubrious atmosphere,” police said.
They continued: “If the officials had not found the clandestine factory in time, the lack of oxygen would have soon made the underground conditions incompatible with the survival of the workers who were there.”
The NCA said Dobbs will be returned to the UK once the Spanish investigation and any judicial proceedings have ended.
A spokesperson said: “Dobbs’s arrest is a fantastic result and shows the power of our international partnerships.
“British fugitives should know that we will catch up with them no matter where they are.”
The six workers were freed pending the outcome of the investigation.
(c) Sky News 2020: British fugitive arrested in Spain after police found illegal underground tobacco factory
