Tara Hanlon pleads not guilty to trying to smuggle £2m to Dubai

British woman was caught with the money in five suitcases at Heathrow Airport

Tara Hanlon, 30, has been charged with money laundering after allegedly trying to smuggle nearly £2m to Dubai. Twitter

A British woman has pleaded not guilty to trying to smuggle £2 million in five suitcases to Dubai.

Tara Hanlon, 30, was charged with money laundering after Border Force officers found £1.9m ($2.57m) stuffed inside five suitcases as she attempted to board a plane at Heathrow on October 3.

The haul was the largest cash seizure at the UK border this year. This photo showing the eye-watering loot was taken by UK Border Force.

Ms Hanlon, from the northern English city of Leeds, appeared at Isleworth Crown Court for a short hearing on Thursday.

Through her legal team, she entered a formal plea of not guilty to the charge.

The judge has set a further plea and directions hearing for April 30 next year and a potential trial date has been set for July 26.

She has been remanded into custody.

Ms Hanlon’s grandmother, Maureen Downs, has insisted she has a “heart of gold” and has “never, ever been in trouble”.

Ms Hanlon lost her mother Angela in March and lived at her parents’ £140,000 three-bed semi-detached home in Leeds with her two younger sisters.

Before her arrest, Ms Hanlon was a beauty recruitment consultant at Goodall Brazier in Leeds city centre.

The company declined to comment on her arrest due to the ongoing criminal investigation.

Images of Ms Hanlon on the firm’s website show her changing appearance over the years due to her various surgeries.

Ms Hanlon was an avid user of social media, especially Instagram and Twitter.

Her posts included photos of beauty products and images of her posing with friends, who include local models.

The accounts have since been deleted.