Escaped prisoner Daniel Dobbs captured in Malaga raid

Daniel Dobbs absconded from HMP Hatfield Lakes in November 2018

An escaped British prisoner has been arrested by Spanish police raiding an underground counterfeit cigarette factory.

Daniel Dobbs was convicted of drug trafficking in 2014 and serving a 13-and-a-half year sentence when he fled.

He absconded from HMP Hatfield Lakes, a category D open prison in South Yorkshire, in November 2018.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) tracked him down to Malaga, where the 31-year-old was living under a false name.

The cigarette factory, hidden in an underground bunker, was raided by the Spanish Civil Guard last week.

Officers seized more than three million fake cigarettes, as well as more than 160kg (352lbs) of cannabis, the NCA said.

Dobbs is alleged to be part of the gang behind the cigarette operation and was held alongside 19 other people, including other Britons.

The agency said the convicted drug trafficker, formerly of Malton in North Yorkshire, would be returned to the UK once the Spanish investigation and any judicial proceedings have ended.