Crackdown on vape outlets, barbers and nook outlets sees £300m of products seized
The National Crime Agency (NCA) launched Operation Machinize targeting Turkish-style barbers, vape shops and minimarts, all of which trade mainly in cash
A staggering £300m in criminal assets have been seized after a nationwide crackdown on hundreds of high street barbers, vape shops and minimarts engaged in alleged money laundering and other criminality.
After a recent boom in Turkish-style barbers, vape shops and minimarts, all of which trade mainly in cash, the National Crime Agency (NCA) launched Operation Machinize in March.
The NCA has been working with police, immigration and trading standards authorities to break up extensive networks linked to gangs and organised crime groups and 20 police forces raided 380 shops, making dozens of arrests across the country.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said the Government was “relentlessly pursuing these criminals and their dirty money”.
He added: “Criminals are using dodgy shops on our high streets to hide serious crimes, from money laundering to illegal working. They are undercutting honest business owners and must be stopped.”
The evidence gathered led the NCA to expand the operation and enlist dozens more police forces to target more high street shops.
It found what it described as “polycriminality” – some shops had been set up to launder money for organised crime groups, while others sold illegal or counterfeit goods.
The NCA will this week confirm it has disrupted millions of pounds’ worth of organised crime activity and that the level of criminaliy is far more extensive than had been uncovered before.
Polling by Ipsos revealed the decline of the high street is the second-highest priority for voters when asked about their local area with many complaining there were too many barber shops, vape shops and nail bars.
Councillors and MPs have expressed frustration that Labour and the Tories are not taking the issue seriously enough.
Robert Jenrick, shadow justice secretary, said: “This may seem like a small issue to the Westminster bubble, but it really does impact people’s lives.”
Reform UK has led the campaign against cash-only businesses for more than a year and claims the party would declare a “national high street emergency”.
