High Street Organised Crime Unit established to tackle rogue shops

£20 million of funding will go towards an enhanced law enforcement response, including establishing a new multi-agency co-ordination cell based out of the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Police officers will also be uplifted across forces in ‘hotspot’ regions. Altogether, 75 new police officers will be recruited across the NCA, Greater Manchester Police, West Midlands Police and a joint Kent Police and Essex Police Unit to build intelligence at a national level and increase the number of dedicated officers tackling organised crime on the ground.

Trading Standards is being backed with £6 million in new funding to bolster the response to sham businesses in at-risk local authorities. New officer training will be rolled out to identify suspicious businesses, strengthen business compliance and boost enforcement.

A new High Street Organised Crime Unit has also been established to bring together Government departments, policing partners and Trading Standards.

Together, the additional funding and the new unit builds on strong enforcement action such as Operation Machinize, purpose-designed to boost the national and local response to targeting criminal networks operating in plain sight on Britain’s High Streets.

Overseen by Security Minister Dan Jarvis, the High Street Organised Crime Unit will be responsible for identifying what more is needed – from stronger powers through to better co-ordination – in order to stop this criminal activity from happening in the first place.

A rapid review of local responders’ powers is underway to explore how these can be strengthened, starting with a consultation on extending the duration of closure orders, where appropriate, to shut criminal businesses down for longer.

Hitting back

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Criminal gangs have exploited our High Streets to launder their dirty money and undercut honest businesses.

We are hitting back with a nationwide crackdown to shut these fronts down, seize dirty cash, drive organised crime off our High Streets and put bosses behind bars.”

The news comes as the NCA estimates that at least £12 billion of criminal cash is generated in the UK each year, with £1 billion laundered through High Street businesses like mini-marts, barber shops, vape stores and sweet shops. 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 of pounds in cash seized as a national intensification campaign will be put on a permanent footing annually in order to drive co-ordinated enforcement across the country.

Sal Melki, deputy director of illicit finance at the NCA, observed: “For the past 18 months, the NCA, in conjunction with policing partners, has led Operation Machinize, itself the largest operation against economic crime on our High Streets. By bringing together policing, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, immigration enforcement, Trading Standards and other partners in a co-ordinated approach, over 950 people have been arrested and upwards of £10 million worth of criminal value seized.”

Melki continued: “This criminal activity makes our communities less safe and less prosperous. It undermines legitimate business, deprives public services of tax revenues and fuels a range of predicate offences such as the drugs trade, illicit goods, trafficking and organised immigration crime.”

In conclusion, Melki stated: “We will not stop. Having the support of the High Street Organised Crime Unit to grow the Machinize partnership will enable us to target and disrupt more high-harm offenders. The High Street Organised Crime Unit will be key to a whole of Government responses where enforcement action is backed up with the laws, policies and powers required at all levels to eradicate this criminal element from our High Streets.”

Damaging communities 

Lord Bichard, national chair of Trading Standards, explained: “Organised High Street crime, including the illegal sale of tobacco and counterfeit goods, is damaging communities across the country. These criminal networks undercut honest businesses, draw money away from local economies and expose consumers to unregulated and potentially unsafe products. Often, they’re also linked to wider offending, including money laundering, exploitation and violence.”

In addition, Bichard commented: “The creation of a new High Street Organised Crime Unit will help to drive a co-ordinated national response, while also strengthening local enforcement capability through additional support and funding for Trading Standards, the police and partner agencies on the ground who will work together to disrupt organised offenders, protect the public and support honest businesses that play by the rules.”

The latest Operation Machinize last November saw 2,734 premises visited and raided, 924 individuals arrested, over £13 million of suspected criminal proceeds seized or restrained and more than £2.7 million worth of illicit commodities destroyed. This builds on the £300 million in criminal assets recovered by law enforcement last year, with money invested back to the front lines to support agencies leading the fight against crime.

The new National Police Service will go further by bringing together the National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing and Regional Organised Crime Units’ capabilities to strengthen the response to serious and organised crime.

Deputy Commissioner Nik Adams of the City of London Police (and the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead on financial investigation and asset recovery) said: “Our High Streets should be places where legitimate businesses can grow, not places where organised criminals hide behind shop fronts.

This Task Force will harness the efforts of the National Crime Agency, national economic crime leads, local community policing, specialist officers and partners to target the businesses being used to launder criminal money, recover criminal assets and protect legitimate traders.”

Adams went on to state: “Operation Machinize has shown that the most effective response comes when neighbourhood officers, financial investigators and national agencies work as one team. Local officers understand their communities and can identify suspicious activity, while financial investigators, the City of London Police as national lead force and the NCA help connect that activity to the organised crime groups and the money flowing behind them.”

According to Adams, the message for organised criminals is clear. “If criminal cash is being pushed through High Street businesses, policing and our partners will act. Through the High Street Organised Crime Unit, we will use intelligence, asset recovery and financial investigation to turn local disruption into lasting national impact.”

Prioritisation and co-ordination

Helen Dickinson, CEO of the British Retail Consortium, observed: “The new High Street Organised Crime Unit will be welcome news for people across the country. Illegitimate businesses and retail theft are major issues and too often linked to criminal gang activity. Stolen goods are commonly funnelled through illicit supply chains and resold through unscrupulous businesses, in turn helping to fund further criminality. This harms businesses, puts colleagues at risk and pushes up prices for honest shoppers.”

Dickinson also said: “Tackling it requires prioritisation from police and Government, as well as co-ordination and intelligence sharing between retailers, law enforcement and local partners. We look forward to working together to deliver real progress.”

Association of Convenience Stores CEO Ed Woodall commented: “Local shops tell us that rogue traders on High Streets are causing massive damage to their businesses and the wider community, so we strongly welcome this Government action to back responsible retailers and crack down on the organised crime gangs that are fuelling illicit trade.”

John Herriman, CEO of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said: “We welcome the introduction of the High Street Organised Crime Unit, which will bring together partner agencies – including Trading Standards – to tackle organised criminality on our High Streets. The proliferation of so-called ‘rogue shops’ puts consumers at significant risk and undermines the legitimate businesses who drive economic growth across the UK. The new High Street Organised Crime Unit will bring a much-needed focus to help clamp down on what is a blight on our High Streets and communities.”