Exposed: The shady crime community of mini-marts serving to migrants work illegally that spans the size of the UK
A criminal network is helping migrants get jobs in mini-marts selling illegal cigarettes and vapes in High Streets across the country.
The Kurdish network was uncovered by a BBC News investigation, where undercover reporters posed as asylum seekers to speak to one business over involved in the scheme.
Ghost company directors are paid to take on the shops in their name but play no part in the running of the businesses.
The directors running the scam often have dozens of the stores listed under their name on Companies House.
They are then run by migrants who pay a monthly amount to the directors to operate the shops.
An investigation found the operation is wide ranging and has links to more than 100 mini-marts, barbers and car washes.
A financial crime investigator also suggested the scale could be even bigger.
The shady businesses often operate for around 12 months before dissolving and re-opening.
Kurdish shop worker Surchi told undercover journalists that his asylum claim was rejected
He runs Top Store in Crewe, one of hundreds of businesses in the crime network employing migrants
The investigation found a shop worker called Surchi, who claimed asylum in the UK after arriving in 2022 and was refused but remains in the UK.
He was operating a mini-mart in Crewe and told the undercover journalists he could sell the business for cash without using an accountant.
Surchi was looking to sell the business for £18,000 and said the off books sale could be completed within minutes.
Secret camera footage also showed him telling the reporters how he could avoid paying for electricity bills – by using a trick to stop the meter from working.
The Kurdish migrant said he paid another man £250 a month to have his name on the business documents.
He told the reporters he had never paid council tax and had not registered the company.
He also admitted that he had regular customers as young as 12 buying tobacco and vapes.
The shop worker also told them how he kept the bulk of his stock in an untaxed car to conceal it from Trading Standards officers during the day.
His shop was raided once for selling illegal cigarettes and vapes and he was forced to pay a £200 fine.
Surchi told undercover reporters that he was looking to sell the business for £18,000
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, said: ‘Illegal working and linked organised criminality creates an incentive for people to come here illegally. We will not stand for it.’
The investigation also found a Kurdish Facebook group which was listing the illicit businesses for sale.
Kurdish builders also offered to build elaborate hiding places to stash illegal vapes and cigarettes.
With no hope of legal employment, some of the migrants were working for as little as £4 an hour.
It comes amid a growing popularity of Turkish-style barber shops among drug gangs needing to launder money.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has overseen dozens of raids on the stores earlier this year, making a series of arrests and seizing tens of thousands of pounds in the process.
Officials said the operation had been prompted by an increase in intelligence reports linking barber shops to money laundering and other criminality. More than 750 opened in the UK last year.
Officers at the NCA joined forces with local police forces, immigration enforcement officers and HM Revenue and Customs inspectors to carry out raids in towns and cities across Britain.
The Kursish migrant also admitted to selling illegal vapes to children as young as 12 years old
One method has seen tax inspectors monitoring the number of chairs in use at a salon to work out if the profits declared by the business correspond to the number of customers.
One official said that some streets have multiple barbers all declaring large takings despite being empty most days.
More than 750 barber shops opened in the UK last year, according to retail analytics company Green Street. Since 2018 the number has increased by more than 15 per cent to more than 18,000.
Traditional Turkish-style barbers are known for stylish haircuts – usually completed with a hot towel and cut-throat razor.
But the NCA probe points to growing concerns that criminals are infiltrating the trade.
