UK woman tried to fly to Dubai with 1.9 mln pounds in cash in 5 suitcases

A woman who tried to fly from London's Heathrow Airport with five suitcases stuffed full of bank notes worth 1.9 million pounds ($2.44 million) has been charged with money laundering, UK Border Force said on Wednesday.

Tara Hanlon, 30, from Leeds in northern England, was attempting to board a flight to Dubai on Saturday when she was stopped. Officers searched her suitcases and found the huge cash haul, the largest detection at the UK border so far in 2020.

Britain's immigration compliance minister Chris Philp said that stopping the export of undeclared cash from the UK was a vital step in clamping down on organised crime gangs.

Hanlon appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on Monday and was remanded in custody until 5 Nov. A 28-year-old woman from Doncaster in northern England who was arrested at the same time has been released under investigation, the statement said. ($1 = 0.7778 pounds)