Barbershops raided in joint NCA HMRC raid

Hundreds of barbers, vape shops and nail bars have been raided by officers from the National Crime Agency, HMRC and the police in a joint crackdown

Barbershops and other cash-intensive businesses across England and Wales were targeted by police and other law enforcement officers during a three-week crackdown on high street crime, money laundering and hiring of illegal workers.

In total, 265 premises were raided as part of Operation Machinize, where officers secured freezing orders over bank accounts totalling more than £1m, executed 85 warrants and made 35 arrests.

Cash-intensive businesses are springing up across high streets with barbershops, vape shops, nail bars, American-themed sweet shops and car washes frequently used by criminals to conceal the origins of illicit cash and launder money.

Crime gangs use them to enter cash into the financial system, mixing legitimate funds with criminal profits to hinder subsequent law enforcement investigations. They are known to buy such businesses using the proceeds of crime, which provides them with a legitimate income and opportunities for money laundering.

Rachael Herbert, deputy director of the National Economic Crime Centre at the NCA, said: ‘Operation Machinize targeted barbershops and other high street businesses being used as cover for a whole range of criminality, all across the country.

‘We have seen links to drug trafficking and distribution, organised immigration crime, modern slavery and human trafficking, firearms, and the sale of illicit tobacco and vapes.

‘We know cash-intensive businesses are used as fronts for money laundering, facilitating some of the highest harm and highest impact offending in the UK.’

During the raids, officers seized more than £40,000 in cash, over 200,000 cigarettes, 7,000 packs of tobacco, over 8,000 illegal vapes and two vehicles. Two cannabis farms were also found, containing at least 150 plants. In total 10 shops were shut, with further closures expected as a result of on-going investigations, the NCA said.

The operation saw 55 individuals questioned about their immigration status and a further 97 individuals safeguarded in relation to potential modern slavery.

The crackdown was part of the NCA’s continued disruption of cash being laundered in the UK, and involved 19 police forces and regional organised crime units, as well as HMRC, Trading Standards and Home Office immigration enforcement.

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