Police have frozen bank accounts containing more than £1m after uncovering cannabis farms and evidence of modern slavery during raids on more than 250 barbershops and other high street businesses.
In a three-week crackdown on high street crime, known as Operation Machinize, the National Crime Agency (NCA) targeted “cash-intensive” businesses that it believes are linked to money laundering.
The NCA, the UK agency responsible for fighting serious and organised crime, said it raided 265 premises, making 35 arrests, as well as safeguarding 97 people in relation to concerns about modern slavery.
Officers seized more than £40,000 in cash, 200,000 cigarettes, 7,000 packs of tobacco, more than 8,000 illegal vapes and two vehicles.
They also discovered two cannabis farms containing 150 plants. Ten shops have been shut, with further closures expected as investigations continue.
The NCA secured freezing orders over bank accounts containing funds worth more than £1m combined.
“Operation Machinize targeted barbershops and other high street businesses being used as cover for a whole range of criminality, all across the country,” said Rachael Hebert, the deputy director of the national economic crime centre at the NCA.
“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.”
The security minister, Dan Jarvis, said the raids highlighted “the scale and complexity of the criminality our towns and cities face”.
“High street crime undermines our security, our borders, and the confidence of our communities, and I am determined to take the decisive action necessary to bring those responsible to justice.”
More than £12bn of criminal cash is generated in the UK each year, according to NCA estimates. The agency said the money was typically smuggled out of the country or integrated into the legitimate financial system using a variety of laundering techniques.
“Cash-intensive businesses such as barbershops, vape shops, nail bars, American-themed sweet shops and car washes are often used by criminals to conceal the origins of illicit cash,” the NCA said.
“Crime gangs … are known to buy such businesses using the proceeds of crime, which provides them with a legitimate income and opportunities for money laundering.
In its general election manifesto, Labour vowed to crack down on “dodgy” US candy shops, amid investigations into tax evasion and the sale of counterfeit goods.
Operation Machinize involved 19 different police forces and regional organised crime units, as well as national agencies including HMRC, Trading Standards and Home Office Immigration Enforcement.
