Police seize nearly £30k in cash at Luton Airport

Bedfordshire Police have seized nearly £30,000 in cash found at London Luton Airport.

It was part of a major op to stop criminal cash from being funnelled out of the country – and since July, the specialist team have retried over £200,000.

Official force figures show that between April and September, Bedfordshire officers have carried out nearly 400 disruptions against organised crime.

Detective Chief Superintendent Duncan Young, force lead for serious and organised crime. said: "Organised crime has no place in Bedfordshire or beyond. The work currently carried out by our officers at the airport has been instrumental in disrupting the activities of organised crime gangs.

"We will continue to work with our partners and share crucial information to target criminals until they are behind bars and their financial assets are recovered."

Neil Thompson, operations director at London Luton Airport (LLA), said: ““We work closely with Bedfordshire Police to ensure we always keep our staff and passengers safe. Everyone working at the airport is trained in general security awareness and along with other measures in place, anyone attempting to commit crime at LLA has a very strong chance of detection. We will always support police in any action they take to tackle crime.”

The National Crime Agency identified airports and ports across the UK as potential hotbeds for money laundering in a review of serious and organised crime.