Hundreds arrested in High Street crime crackdown

In the biggest operation of its kind coordinated by the National Crime Agency (NCA), targeted raids on High Streets, vaping shops, barbers, and takeaways have resulted in more than 920 people jailed. Authorities have issued more than 340notices for unlawful employment and renting, which may have resulted in fines for employers and landlords. Last week, the BBC revealed Kurdish crime fixers who claimed to be able to make £60,000 inoperative fines disappear. However, the BBC's coverage revealed a Kurdish criminal network that used ghost directors to represent companies' official documents while remaining uninvolved in day-to-day operations.

As asylum seekers were told how simple it was to take over a store and make thousands of pounds a week from illicit cigarettes, undercover journalists posed as refugees. The Home Office announced that it would investigate the BBC's findings. The NCA was the catalyst behind the month-long crackdown, which culminated in the visit of 2,734 High Street premises and more than £10 million. Over half a million pounds in cash and 70 kilograms of cannabis were confiscated, containing millions of illegal cigarettes and vaping millions. Theillicit tobaccoalone equates to more than £3. According to NCA statistics, 5 million dollars in duty was skipped. Companies House has been referred to for further inquiry into over 450 registered businesses. Thousands of officers have been deployed around the country, aiming for criminal revenue and the means of obtaining them," Rachael Herbert, the NCA's national economic crime center director, said. Hundreds of thousands of thousands worth of harmful and illegal products have been taken off our streets, as well as over £10 million in cash, frozen in bank accounts, and criminal assets confiscated.

According to the NCA, at least £12 billion in criminal revenue is generated in the United Kingdom each year, mainly from overseas or siphoned through financial services to be reinvested in criminal activity. Senior politicians have warned that a UK-wide criminal network exposed by the BBC is acting as a pull factor for illicit migration to the United Kingdom. Following complaints in their constituencies, 25 Labour MPs have joined a movement to shut down dodgy stores, according to the BBC. The group, led by Melanie Onn, MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, is pushing for new legislative authority and tougher penalties for offenders.

Criminals are using these dodgy stores as fronts for serious organised crime, money laundering, and illegal labour,

Home Office security minister Dan Jarvis said, putting the British High Street's future in jeopardy.

We've stepped up our joint efforts with law enforcement to capture illicit networks and relentlessly pursue those who use dirty money for personal gain.

Under the NCA's Operation Machinize, October marked the second month-long increase of High Street visits since March this year. Any police force in the United Kingdom collaborated with colleagues, including Trading Standards, HM Revenue & Customs, and Home Office Immigration Enforcement, as a result of the joint initiative.

The threat of serious and organised crime on our High Streets was identified as the number one threat facing our members,

the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CSTI), which represents officers in councils around the UK, told the BBC: "the threat of significant and organised violence on our streets was identified. As a result, CSTI would like for officers' resources and authority to close businesses.