Key suspect in multi-million Dubai cash mule network Tara Hanlon worked for arrested in Belgravia

AN ALLEGED key figure in an international money laundering network responsible for moving tens of millions of pounds out of the UK to Dubai has been arrested in London.

The Emirati national, 46, was detained at a flat in Lowndes Square, Belgravia, at around lunchtime today (December 14).

He is alleged to have organised travel arrangements for at least 26 couriers who between them have removed an estimated £100 million criminal cash from the UK to Dubai.

Two of those couriers are already serving jail terms following investigations by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Tara Hanlon, 31, (above) from Leeds, was detained by Border Force at Heathrow in October 2020 as she attempted to leave the country with suitcases containing almost £2 million (below).

Hanlon (above) later admitted smuggling another £3.5 million out of the UK in other trips, and was sentenced to 34 months in jail in July 2021.

Read the full story revealed by Essex News and Investigations here.

Czech national Zdenek Kamaryt, 38, was also stopped at Heathrow in November 2020.

He was attempting to board a flight to Dubai carrying £1.4 million.

Kamaryt pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to 26 months in March this year.

One suspected courier who took money for the gang went onto hang himself in the UK a few days after returning from Dubai, as exclusively revealed by Essex News and Investigations.

So far 21 additional suspected couriers linked to the network have been interviewed by NCA investigators.

Ten have been arrested, eight in a series of raids in May this year. All were later released under investigation.

NCA senior investigating officer Ian Truby said: “The man arrested today is suspected of having played a key role in the movement of tens of millions of pounds of criminal cash out of the UK, where it could be laundered to invest in further criminality.

“The criminal network we allege he was involved in is one of the biggest of its kind we have investigated, paying couriers thousands to carry millions of pounds at a time rammed into suitcases.

“This type of activity is the lifeblood of organised crime, which cannot function without it.

“The man arrested on suspicion of money laundering today remains in custody being questioned by the NCA and our investigation continues.”