By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
UK police have raided hundreds of retail shops suspected of being fronts for organized crime, including barber shops, vape stores and mini-marts.
Officers arrested dozens of suspects in the first of a nationwide operation, involving six days of raids and targeting money laundering and other criminal activity.
Officers carried out 265 coordinated raids under Operation Machinize” across England and Wales. The National Crime Agency (NCA) launched the operation in response to growing intelligence that international gangs were using retail premises to launder illicit funds and exploit vulnerable workers.
Adrian Searle, director of the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) at the National Crime Agency, said he was “proud to see the NECC leading the charge”.
He said the organization coordinated action “against the scourge of dodgy businesses on our high streets, ‘businesses’ which are involved in laundering criminal cash and other forms of criminality”.
“This is not an easy nut to crack, but this joint action is a key initiative in cleaning up our high streets and disrupting criminal gangs,” he said on LinkedIn.
The raids come after UK authorities announced similar action against Turkish barber shops last month over concerns that crime gangs use them for money laundering, tax fraud, and illegal migrant work.
Local raids
In Shrewsbury, police seized thousands of pounds in cash and illegal vapes from a vape shop. Investigators suspect the shop is linked to drug dealing, immigration offences, and the sale of illicit tobacco.
Detective Inspector Daniel Fenn, who led several raids, said some shops claimed revenues of £100,000–£150,000 a month without seeing many customers. “They aren’t getting that amount of customers to warrant that amount of money,” he told the BBC.
In Greater Manchester, officers uncovered heroin, testosterone, Xanax, and a machete. In Rochdale, Trading Standards officers found hidden compartments stocked with illegal tobacco and vapes.
Police arrested 35 people and questioned 55 others suspected of working illegally. They identified three potential victims of modern slavery and froze over £1 million in assets.
The NCA estimates that £12bn in illicit cash is laundered in the UK every year. Despite these shops operating openly for years and attracting widespread local suspicion, this is the first co-ordinated action of its kind.
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