A man has been charged with money laundering after £1 million in cash was discovered in suitcases at Heathrow Airport.
Mazen Al Shaar, 48, was stopped by Border Force officers on Saturday, and the large quantity of cash was subsequently seized as part of a financial crime investigation.
Al Shaar, who is from Hayes, Middlesex, was preparing to board a flight bound for Beirut when he was intercepted.
He was formally charged with money laundering offences and appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Monday, where his bail application was refused. He was remanded in custody and is next scheduled to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on 17 April for a pre-trial plea hearing.
The cash seizure is one of the latest in a series of operations by Border Force and law enforcement agencies targeting the movement of large sums of undeclared or suspicious money through UK airports.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the source of the funds or whether further arrests are expected in connection with the case.
