New NCA Unit Targets High Street Shops Laundering £1bn Criminal Cash

The UK government announced the creation of a new specialist unit to target retail outlets such as vape stores, barbers, mini-marts, and sweet shops suspected of laundering £1bn in criminal funds.

A £20m National Crime Agency cell will coordinate investigations and raids into businesses believed to serve as fronts for organised crime, the Home Office said. The NCA, along with police forces in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Kent, and Essex, will recruit 75 officers to support the effort.

Labour pledged in its general election manifesto to crack down on “dodgy” outlets, including US candy shops, amid probes into tax evasion and counterfeit goods sales.

The initiative comes as Reform UK and the Conservative Party blame Labour for a decline on UK high streets, with household brands collapsing and shoplifting on the rise.

Trading standards will receive an additional £6m to strengthen the response to sham businesses in at-risk local authorities, the government said. New officer training will be introduced to identify suspicious businesses, enhance compliance, and boost enforcement.

The funding comes from a £30m pot allocated by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last November’s budget.

Growing concern surrounds the role of such businesses in facilitating money laundering, tax fraud, and illegal employment.

The NCA estimates at least £12bn in criminal cash is generated annually in the UK, with £1bn laundered through high street businesses including mini-marts, barber shops, vape stores, and sweet shops. Some outlets are also linked to counterfeit goods, tax evasion, illegal working, and drug supply.

According to trading standards, up to half of convenience stores and vape retailers in certain areas may have ties to organised crime, while a third of American candy stores and one in four takeaways in specific locations are suspected of being criminal fronts.

A new High Street Organised Crime Unit, chaired by Security Minister Dan Jarvis, has been established to coordinate efforts among government departments, police, and trading standards.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Criminal gangs have exploited our high streets to launder their dirty money and undercut honest businesses.”

“We 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,” Mahmood added.

The NCA has launched coordinated raids on illegal retail outlets under Operation Machinize 2, targeting cash-intensive businesses in the “grey economy.”

The NCA, the UK’s lead agency for fighting serious and organised crime, helped plan raids on more than 2,700 premises, leading to 924 arrests.

Police seized over £10.7m in suspected illegal proceeds, 111,000 illegal vapes, 70kg of cannabis, and 4.5m illegal cigarettes.

Research released in January indicated that people feel high streets have declined more than any other part of their local area.

Improving shopping precincts ranked as the third most important local issue for voters, behind good healthcare and reducing crime, according to YouGov polling.

Reform UK supporters were more likely than others to report significant decline in their area, underscoring what researchers termed a “deep sense of place-based resentment” toward Westminster.