{"id":40918,"date":"2026-05-19T18:56:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/40918\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T18:56:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:56:44","slug":"news-uk-says-1bn-a-year-laundered-through-vape-shops-and-barbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/40918\/","title":{"rendered":"NEWS: UK says \u00a31bn a year laundered through vape shops and barbers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By PAUL O\u2019DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">THE UK government said around \u00a31 billion a year in criminal cash is laundered through high street businesses such as vape shops, barbers, mini-marts and sweet shops, as it announced a new national crackdown on organised crime.<\/p>\n<p>Officials created a new High Street Organised Crime Unit, warning that criminals use retail fronts to disguise proceeds from drug trafficking, fraud and other illicit activity.<\/p>\n<p>The unit will lead a nationwide response to businesses linked to organised crime. It will work with police, Trading Standards and other agencies to target rogue retailers<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe\u00a0NCA\u00a0estimate at least \u00a312 billion of criminal cash is generated in the UK each year, with \u00a31 billion laundered through high street businesses like mini-marts, barber shops, vape stores and sweet shops,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/new-high-street-unit-set-up-in-nationwide-blitz-on-dodgy-shops\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the UK government said<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe [High Street Organised Crime Unit] will be responsible for identifying what more is needed \u2013 from stronger powers to better co-ordination \u2013 to stop this criminal activity from happening in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The initiative forms part of a \u00a330 million programme over three years. It focuses on money laundering, tax evasion and illegal working.<\/p>\n<p>Shabana Mahmood, the UK Home Secretary, said: \u201cCriminal gangs have exploited our high streets to launder their dirty money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are hitting back with a nationwide crackdown. We will shut these fronts down, seize dirty cash and drive organised crime off our high streets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The government said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amlintelligence.com\/2025\/11\/latest-almost-3000-uk-shops-raided-in-crackdown-on-money-laundering-fronts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Operation Machinize<\/a> had already led to more than 950 arrests. It also resulted in seizures worth over \u00a310 million.<\/p>\n<p>Sal Melki, deputy director of illicit finance at the NCA, said: \u201cWe will not stop and having the support of the High Street Organised Crime Unit to grow the Machinize partnership will enable us to target and disrupt more high harm offenders. The HSOCU will be key to a whole of government response.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The latest phase of Operation Machinize took place in November. Officers raided or visited 2,734 premises. They arrested 924 people. They also seized or restrained more than \u00a313 million in suspected criminal proceeds.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/phone-tablet-desktop.png\" alt=\"AML Intelligence\"\/>We hope you enjoyed reading this article<\/p>\n<p class=\"amlpmp-content-message__description\">If you would like unlimited access to AML Intelligence premium articles, newsletter delivered twice a week, access to our Global Bank Fines and Penalties database, free access to Boardroom Series events and much more, select one of our subscription options and become a subscriber!<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"amlpmp-content-message__button amlpmp-content-message__button--primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amlintelligence.com\/membership-account\/membership-levels\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">View subscription options<\/a><a class=\"amlpmp-content-message__button amlpmp-content-message__button--transparent\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amlintelligence.com\/login\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">If you have an account, log in<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By PAUL O\u2019DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent THE UK government said around \u00a31 billion a year in criminal cash is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[16215,20542,1930,5,6],"class_list":["post-40918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-financial-crime","tag-nca","tag-retail","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116602770818374903","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}