Vape shops targeted in national crackdown on high street crime

Vape shops, mini marts and barbershops across England have been targeted by police and other law enforcement officers during a three-week crackdown on high street crime last month.

In total, 265 premises were visited across Operation Machinize, where officers secured freezing orders over bank accounts totalling more than £1 million, executed 84 warrants and made 35 arrests.

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

In addition, officers seized more than £40,000 in cash, some 200,000 cigarettes, 7,000 packs of tobacco, over 8,000 illegal vapes and two vehicles. Two cannabis farms were also found, containing a total of 150 plants. Ten shops have been shut, with further closures expected as a result of on-going investigations.

Operation Machinize was launched by the National Crime Agency (NCA), with funding from the Home Office to deal with issues including organised immigration crime, money laundering, drugs supply and the selling of illegal tobacco products and vapes.

“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,” security minister Dan Jarvis said.

“This successful NCA-led operation highlights the scale and complexity of the criminality our towns and cities face and demonstrates our collective determination to make our streets safer, a key pillar of this government’s Plan for Change.”

‘Money laundering fronts’

The NCA estimates that £12 billion of criminal cash is generated in the UK each year, which is typically smuggled out of the country or integrated into the legitimate financial system using a variety of laundering techniques.

The agency claimed that cash-intensive businesses such as barbershops, vape shops, mini marts, nail bars, American-themed sweet shops and car washes are often used by criminals to conceal the origins of illicit cash.

Crime gangs allegedly 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.

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

“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 crackdown, which is part of the NCA’s continued disruption of cash being laundered in the UK, involved 19 different police forces and Regional Organised Crime Units, as well as national agencies including HMRC, Trading Standards and Home Office Immigration Enforcement.

It was supported by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and coordinated by the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre, which provided intelligence to assist local forces, as well as funding for operational activity.

Over 130 visits in Manchester

In the Greater Manchester area, the crackdown began with three warrants on 3 March, which resulted in the recovery of 150 cannabis plants, the arrest of three individuals, and the detention of two individuals by Immigration Enforcement.

On its second day (4 March) officers from the Hyde Godley NPT along with TMBC Trading Standards, Environmental Services and Immigration officers, conducted a warrant at a business premises in the town centre. As a result, three people were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class C drugs and immigration offences.

The action continued until 21 March, with visits to 139 premises, which included six police warrants and 13 partner agency warrants.

This proactive operation resulted in 14 arrests, 14 voluntary interview attendances booked, 14 Immigration Enforcement detainees, four individuals safeguarded, disruption to 60 incidences of organised immigration crime, and seven closure orders served alongside the seizure of a vast amount of criminal/illegal commodity.

Some of the food and drink products imported and being sold over the counter in the premises targeted did not comply with EU and UK food standards and could also put consumers at risk.

During some of the warrants and searches, Greater Manchester Police seized 150 cannabis plants, over £40,000 worth of illegal vapes, a total of 10,895 illicit cigarettes, £1000 in cash, 348 counterfeit goods, and one machete.

HMRC recorded 27 tax evasion offences, there were 38 trading standards offences and 22 health and safety breaches, 7 business premises were served closure orders, and two premises received £60,000 fines.

Detective Inspector Melanie Johnson, who lead and coordinated the operation for Greater Manchester Police, said: “This was the first time law enforcement agencies have ran a specific intensification on this scale, targeting this area of criminality and working alongside our partner agencies, and I am proud to say this was an extremely successful operation.

“We have seen some excellent work carried out across all districts by our officers alongside partners and I am confident we shall continue focusing our efforts on disrupting these criminals.

“We have removed large quantities of harmful substances; drugs, illegal vapes, illicit cigarettes, and a dangerous weapon from the streets of Greater Manchester, as well as safeguarding four vulnerable people from being further exploited.

“Our work does not stop here; we will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals involved in this organised criminality and seek to ensure that our communities are safe and high streets full of businesses not involved in criminality.”