A woman has been jailed for two years and 10 months over more than £5 million (€5.85m) worth of money-laundering offences after she was stopped at Heathrow Airport in London with suitcases full of cash.

Tara Hanlon, 30, was held as she tried to board a flight to Dubai in October of last year with more than £1.9 million (€2.2m) in sterling notes.

The find, vacuum packed in five suitcases and covered in ground coffee to hide the smell from sniffer dogs, was described at the time as the largest cash seizure at the border that year.

She pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to remove criminal property from England and Wales between July 13 and October 4 last year, which has been left to lie on file.

But she admitted three counts of removing criminal property, relating to cash amounts of £1.4m on July 14, £1.1m on August 10 and £1m on August 31 last year.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to attempting to remove £1.9m in criminal cash from England on the day she was arrested.

Recruitment consultant Hanlon, of Pelham Court, Leeds, appeared at Isleworth Crown Court, where she was jailed for 34 months.

Prosecutor Nathan Rasiah said the charges related to three trips taken to the United Arab Emirates city last summer and one failed attempt in October.

The court heard that on October 3, 2020, the defendant was stopped at the airport by a customs official when travelling with a friend to Dubai.

When asked about the purpose of the visit and her luggage, the defendant said she was going on a “girls’ trip” and that she had checked in the five suitcases because she “wasn’t sure what to wear”.

The defendant denied she was travelling with cash, but was arrested after officials found the cash in the suitcases. In a prepared statement to investigators, Hanlon said that it was the first trip she had taken, that she was not being paid and believed it to be legal as the money would be declared in Dubai.

However, inquiries by authorities revealed that she had made three previous visits in July and August as a courier, and had been paid around £3,000 for each trip.

After liaising with authorities in Dubai, the National Crime Agency (NCA) discovered Hanlon had declared she was carrying more than £1m in cash upon arrival on each occasion