Law enforcement agencies, including Gloucestershire Constabulary, have focused on cash-intensive businesses such as barbershops, vape shops, nail bars, American-themed sweet shops, and car washes as part of a crackdown on high street crime. Operation Machinize has resulted in the closure of ten shops, with further closures anticipated.
During the operation, officers visited 265 UK premises, securing freezing orders over bank accounts totalling more than £1m, executing 85 warrants, and making 35 arrests. Additionally, 55 individuals were questioned about their immigration status, and 97 individuals were safeguarded concerning potential modern slavery. The initiative also led to the seizure of more than £40,000 in cash, 200,000 cigarettes, 7,000 packs of tobacco, over 8,000 illegal vapes, and two vehicles. Furthermore, two cannabis farms were discovered, containing 150 plants.
According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), an estimated £12bn of criminal cash is generated in the UK annually, often smuggled out of the country or laundered into the legitimate financial system through various techniques.
READ MORE: Hundreds of Jobs to Be Cut at Southmead Hospital in Bristol as NHS Trust Aims to Save £40million
READ MORE: Be on Channel 4’s Outrageous Homes with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen in Gloucestershire
Cash-intensive businesses are frequently used by criminals to disguise the origins of illicit funds. They use these establishments to introduce cash into the financial system, mixing it with legal earnings to hinder subsequent law enforcement investigations. Criminal groups are also known to purchase such businesses with proceeds of crime, providing them with a legitimate income and opportunities for money laundering.
The crackdown, which involves 19 police forces, Regional Organised Crime Units, and national agencies such as HMRC, Trading Standards, and Home Office Immigration Enforcement, is part of the NCA’s ongoing efforts to disrupt money laundering activities in the UK.
Rachael Herbert, Deputy Director of the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre, emphasized the significant findings from the operation, stating, “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. Here at the National Economic Crime Centre, we coordinate UK-wide action and lead cross-system efforts to make our financial system more resilient.”
Security Minister Dan Jarvis expressed the government’s determination to combat high street crime and support the efforts of law enforcement partners in creating a more hostile environment for organized crime.