Three men caught with more than a million illegal cigarettes worth £310,000 have been sentenced.

Zana Osman, 37, from North Finchley, Piotr Zwolinski, 45, from Wembley, and Halkwat Walli, 34, from Iraq, were caught in Bedford with 1.15million illegal cigarettes in their car by investigators from HMRC.

Osman was found with £18,665 in laundered cash hidden under the driver's seat in his car, only days after being bailed in March 2017.

He denied smuggling cigarettes and money laundering, but was found guilty by a jury at Luton Crown Court on November 27, 2017.

Zwolinski and Walli admitted smuggling cigarettes.

Zwolinski was sentenced to 14 months in jail, suspended for two years, given a home curfew and ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid work, while Walli, who had been held in custody since his arrest in March 2017 as he faced deportation action by the Home Office, was sentenced to nine months in jail on September 5, 2017 at Luton Crown Court.

He is appealing against deportation.

Osman was jailed for three years at Luton Crown Court on January 19.

Judge Barbara Mensah, who made an order for the cash to be donated to an offenders' charity, said: "Osman’s account was dishonest and incredible and he deprived society of money."