A driver who was caught trying to sneak nearly £300,000 criminal cash out of the UK just four hours after arriving in the country is behind bars.

Mariusz Dorozynski, from Zlotoryja in Poland, has been jailed for two years after admitting money laundering charges.

His conviction comes after a European Arrest Warrant was issued for him when he failed to return to the UK to be charged.

He was extradited from Poland and was convicted at Maidstone Crown Court last week.

But he was first arrested on June 3, 2016, at Dover after he was stopped by Border Force officers.

A scan of his van revealed the presence of bundles of cash totalling £297,200 concealed among boxes of car parts.

An investigation was launched by the National Crime Agency (NCA), with Dorozynski, 33, initially telling officers he had attempted to deliver the car parts to a company in Banbury, Oxfordshire, which is nearly three hours’ drive away, which had turned them away.

He denied knowing anything about the cash.

But in fact, he had entered the UK just four hours beforehand, and investigators were able to use phone analysis to show that he had only got as far as east London.

Additionally, the van had been scanned by Border Force on the way in, and there was no sign of the cash then.

Dorozynski was initially bailed following his arrest, but he failed to return to be charged after being summonsed by post in November 2018.

This led to NCA investigators applying for a European Arrest Warrant, and Dorozynski was apprehended in Poland and extradited back to the UK in October 2019.

Last Friday, he was sentenced to two years in a video-link hearing via Maidstone Crown Court after admitting money laundering charges, with the judge confirming he believed the money to be the proceeds of organised crime.

Dave Smith, Border Force regional director, said: "Border Force used expertise and technology to bring an offender to justice and prevent a substantial amount of criminal cash leaving the UK.

"Scanning the vehicle on its way into the UK - when the cash was not present - meant officers could quickly discredit Dorozynski’s initial explanations.

"We will continue to do all we can to end this illegal activity."

NCA Dover branch commander Martin Grace added: "Dorozynski thought that by fleeing the UK he would get away with it, but through the determination of our officers working with our partners overseas we ensured he was made to come back to face justice.

"Cash is the lifeblood of organised crime, seizing this money will have dealt a significant blow to the criminal networks involved."

At the hearing, the judge also indicated that an European Arrest Warrant would be supported for a second man wanted by the NCA in connection with the smuggling attempt, 45-year-old Mariusz Kolodziej, from Boleslawiec in Poland.

He had called the NCA claiming the cash was his after the seizure and was also charged and summonsed to appear, but failed to attend court.

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