A TV crew was filming a documentary at an east London apartment earlier this week when they came across $8.2 million hidden inside a wooden box.
The crew was following bailiffs who were conducting an investigation into a case when they arrived at the apartment in Silvertown to carry out a search warrant in search of money, the Daily Mirror reported.
The crew is believed to have been filming an episode about bailiffs for a British TV series.
The money, all in American currency, is suspected to be part of a money-laundering scheme. Police arrived at the scene to recover the cash at the apartment located near the Docklands financial district.
"Police were called at approximately 1025hrs [10:25 a.m.] on Wednesday, 11 June to an address in Wards Wharf Apartments, E16 after a large quantity of cash was found by bailiffs who were executing a warrant there," a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman told the Mirror.
A 29-year-old man was arrested in connection to the cash and has been charged with money-laundering. He was released on bail and will be out until mid-August. The suspect has no ties to terrorism, police said.
The arrest comes after police shut down a rampant money-laundering and drug-trafficking ring where dozens of men were convicted and sentenced last month, the newspaper reported.
Authorities from the National Crime Agency caught on to the operation when they filmed bags of cash being exchanged, the newspaper reported. At least 44 million pounds, $75 million, had been deposited into a bank in Small Heath, Birmingham.
Thirty-two men were caught handling over 180 million pounds, $305 million, for drug traffickers. They were sentenced in May to 140 years in prison, according to the Mirror.
