Organised crime gangs operating in Greater Manchester will be hit with a major police offensive as part of a national crackdown on dodgy high street shops, announces the Security Minister.
Rogue barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops across Greater Manchester linked to organised crime will face raids, closures and cash seizures, joining a £20 million nationwide crackdown targeting money laundering, tax evasion, and illegal working.
The High Street Organised Crime Unit will bring together government departments, police, and local authorities in a new national operation to target criminal networks operating in plain sight across Britain’s high streets.
The unit will provide longer term national backing to the immediate funding for UK regions with the some of the highest levels of high street organised crime, including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Kent and Essex.
Across Greater Manchester, additional funding will support enforcement activity in Rochdale, Bury, and Bolton – areas identified as containing the highest levels of high street organised crime activity by the National Crime Agency.
This funding will boost the National Crime Agency’s organised-crime crackdown, Operation Machinize, which saw Greater Manchester Police carry out more than 120 visits to high-street premises, make 14 arrests, and disrupt dozens of illicit businesses across the region — including issuing six closure notices and referring multiple premises for financial and regulatory sanctions.
Security Minister, Dan Jarvis, said:
“Criminal groups are using seemingly legitimate businesses across Greater Manchester as fronts for serious organised crime, money laundering, and illegal working.
“We are backing Greater Manchester Police with new funding, better intelligence, and more officers to target these criminal enterprises.
“The High Street Organised Crime Unit will bring together law enforcement, government, and local authorities to put these criminal groups out of business and restore confidence on our high street.”
It comes as the NCA estimate at least £12bn of criminal cash is generated in the UK. Money is often laundered through high street shops like mini-marts, barber shops, vape stores and sweet shops to hide profits. Some businesses are also connected to the sale of fake goods, tax evasion, illegal working and illegal drug supply.
Thousands of businesses are expected to be raided, hundreds of arrests made and millions in cash seized as a national intensification campaign will be put on permanent footing annually to drive coordinated enforcement across the country.
