{"id":591462,"date":"2026-05-18T23:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/591462\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T23:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:42:09","slug":"dodgy-shops-handling-criminal-cash-targeted-by-new-specialist-unit-organised-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/591462\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dodgy\u2019 shops handling criminal cash targeted by new specialist unit | Organised crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDodgy\u201d retail outlets such as vape stores, barbers, mini-marts and sweet shops suspected of being used to launder \u00a31bn of criminal money will be targeted by a new specialist unit, the government has said.<\/p>\n

A \u00a320m National Crime<\/a> Agency cell will run and coordinate investigations and raids into UK businesses suspected of acting as fronts for gangsters, the Home Office said.<\/p>\n

The NCA and police forces in Greater Manchester, the West \u00adMidlands, Kent and Essex will recruit 75 officers to boost the effort.<\/p>\n

Labour vowed to crack down on \u201cdodgy\u201d outlets<\/a> such as US candy shops in its general election manifesto, amid investigations into tax evasion and the sale of counterfeit goods.<\/p>\n

The move comes as Reform UK and the Conservatives blame Labour for a decline in UK high streets<\/a>, as household brands collapse and shoplifting rises.<\/p>\n

Trading standards departments will receive an extra \u00a36m to bolster the response to sham businesses in at-risk local authorities, according to the latest announcement.<\/p>\n

New training will help officers identify suspicious businesses, strengthen compliance and boost enforcement.<\/p>\n

The cash will come from a \u00a330m pot put aside by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in last November\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

Improving shopping precincts was the third most important local issue for voters in a recent YouGov poll. Photograph: Linda Nylind\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

There is growing concern that many such businesses act as fronts for money laundering, tax fraud and illegal work.<\/p>\n

The NCA estimates at least \u00a312bn of criminal cash is generated in the UK each year, with \u00a31bn laundered through high street businesses such as mini-marts, barber shops, vape stores and sweet shops.<\/p>\n

Some businesses are also connected to the sale of fake goods, tax evasion, illegal working and illegal drug supply.<\/p>\n

As many as half of convenience stores and vape retailers in some areas are estimated to have links with organised crime, according to trading standards, while up to a third of American candy stores and one in four takeaways in specific areas are suspected of being a front for criminal activity.<\/p>\n

A new High Street Organised Crime Unit, to be chaired by the security minister, Dan Jarvis, has also been established to bring together government departments, policing partners and trading standards.<\/p>\n

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, said: \u201cCriminal gangs have exploited our high streets to launder their dirty money and undercut honest businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hitting back with a nationwide crackdown to shut these fronts down, seize dirty cash and drive organised crime off our high streets and put bosses behind bars.\u201d<\/p>\n

A police officer searching a shop in Greater Manchester. The NCA has raided thousands of retail outlets of late, seizing \u00a310.7m of suspected illegal proceeds. Photograph: GMP\/PA<\/p>\n

Coordinated raids of illegal retail outlets<\/a> have been launched by the NCA under Operation Machinize 2, which targeted cash intensive businesses in the \u201cgrey economy\u201d.<\/p>\n

The NCA, the body responsible for fighting serious and organised crime, helped plan the raids of more than 2,700 premises, leading to 924 arrests.<\/p>\n

Police seized more than \u00a310.7m of suspected illegal proceeds, 111,000 illegal vapes, 70kg of cannabis and 4.5m illegal cigarettes.<\/p>\n

Research released in January showed that people feel high streets have declined more than any other part of their local area.<\/p>\n

Improving shopping precincts was the third most important local issue for voters, behind good healthcare and reducing crime, according to polling conducted by YouGov.<\/p>\n

Reform UK supporters were more likely than anyone else to say their area had significantly declined, underlining what researchers called a \u201cdeep sense of place-based resentment\u201d towards Westminster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cDodgy\u201d retail outlets such as vape stores, barbers, mini-marts and sweet shops suspected of being used to launder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-591462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}