Sussex Police take part in national crackdown on high street crime as hundreds of barbershops targeted

The crackdown, dubbed Operation Operation Machinize by top brass at the National Crime Agency (NCA) saw officers all over the country targeting some 265 premises all over the UK.

In total, they secured freezing orders on bank accounts totalling more than one million, executed 85 warrants and made 35 arrests. 55 individuals were questioned about their immigration status and a further 97 were safeguarded in relation to potential modern slavery.

On top of all that, officers nationwide 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 and ten shops were shut, with more expected as police investigations continue.

According to the NCA, an estimated £12 billion of criminal cash is generated in the UK every year, and smuggled out of the country or integrated into the mainstream financial system via a range of laundering techniques.

Cash-intensive businesses, like barbershops, nail salons, vape shops and American-themed sweet shops are often used to conceal the origins of illicit cash. Gangs use them to enter cash into the financial system at large, mixing illegal money with legitimate money to hinder criminal investigations. Gangs often buy such businesses using the proceeds from crime, providing them with a legitimate income and another means of money-laundering.

The operation involved 19 different police forces, including Sussex Police as well as national agencies including HMRC, Trading Standards and Home Office Immigration Enforcement.

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

“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.

“Here at the National Economic Crime Centre, we coordinate UK-wide action, and lead cross-system efforts to make our financial system more resilient.

“The excellent results from the first iteration of Operation Machinize are testament to the tireless work of officers across the country, and demonstrate our resolve to clamp down on organised criminality abusing the high street.”

Security Minister Dan Jarvis added: “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.

“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.

“We will continue to support the NCA, and other law enforcement partners, as we make the UK an even more hostile environment for organised crime.”