More than 100,000 illegal vapes, 4.5 million illicit cigarettes and 622kg of illegal tobacco have been seized in a major operation targeting high street retailers.
Thousands of premises – including vape shops, convenience stores and takeaways – were hit last month by Operation Machinize, a national initiative tackling the criminal exploitation of high street businesses.
The operation – claimed to be the largest of its kind tackling the grey economy “that makes our high streets less safe and prosperous” – saw 2,734 premises visited and raided and 924 individuals arrested.
More than £10.7m of suspected criminal proceeds were seized and £2.7m worth of illicit commodities destroyed, including 70kg of cannabis.
“Over the course of the month, we have learnt a lot about the threat, the different types of offending occurring on our high street and what tactics are effective in combatting it,” said Sal Melki, senior lead for Machinize 2 at the National Crime Agency.
“We have also learnt that this type of offending is not restricted to any one area, type of shop or demographic. The scale of this challenge is significant, but it is also important to remember that the majority of shops on our high streets are not considered suspicious,” Melki added. “While there is organised crime occurring at the top of the pyramid, we do not underestimate the aggregated effect that thousands of shops engaged in so-called lower level criminality is having on our communities and the criminal supply chains that profit from them.”
Operation Machinize is co-ordinated by the NCA and conducted in co-operation with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, and involves every UK police force and Regional Organised Crime Unit, Home Office Immigration Enforcement, Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs and Companies House.
The operation saw 341 notices for illegal working and renting issued, meaning businesses could face fines of up to £60,000 per worker with landlords facing fines of up to £20,000 per tenant if found liable. More than 450 companies have been referred to Companies House for further investigation.
The NCA said high street businesses were “used to make the proceeds of crime appear like the legitimate profits of a trade or service”.
They also sold illicit products and evaded tax, and were “often linked to other types of criminality such as drugs supply and the serious violence it causes” it said, with a “known overlap” with illegal working, the evasion of customs and excise duties, modern slavery and unsuitable living and working conditions.
“Thousands of officers have been deployed up and down our country, targeting criminal profits and the means of generating them,” said Rachael Herbert, director of the National Economic Crime Centre at the NCA.
“Depriving criminals of their source of income has a real impact, limiting the amount of funds they can reinvest in further offending and deterring them from taking spaces on our high street that could be used by legitimate businesses,” she added.
The latest operation is the second phase of Operation Machinize. The first took place in April, specifically targeting barber shops and “other cash-intensive businesses” in a three-week crackdown.
In total, 380 premises were visited, where officers secured freezing orders over bank accounts totalling more than £1m, executed 84 warrants and made 35 arrests. The operation saw 55 individuals questioned about their immigration status and a further 97 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.
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