The UK government has announced a new specialist unit to tackle the £1bn laundered annually through suspicious retail outlets - because apparently, that American candy shop on the corner wasn't thriving on $0.99 chocolate bars alone.
A £20m National Crime Agency cell will coordinate investigations and raids into businesses suspected of acting as fronts for gangsters, the Home Office confirmed. The NCA, alongside police forces in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Kent and Essex, will recruit 75 officers to bolster the effort.
Labour vowed to crack down on "dodgy" outlets such as US candy shops in its general election manifesto, amid investigations into tax evasion and counterfeit goods. This move comes as Reform UK and the Conservatives blame Labour for a decline in UK high streets - because nothing says "high street revival" like a vape shop that's also a front for organised crime.
Trading standards departments will receive an extra £6m to bolster the response to sham businesses in at-risk local authorities. New training will help officers identify suspicious businesses, strengthen compliance and boost enforcement. The cash comes from a £30m pot set aside by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in last November's budget.
The NCA estimates at least £12bn of criminal cash is generated in the UK each year, with £1bn laundered through high street businesses such as 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.
As many as half of convenience stores and vape retailers in some areas are estimated to have links with organised crime, according to trading standards. Up to a third of American candy stores and one in four takeaways in specific areas are suspected of being fronts for criminal activity.
A new High Street Organised Crime Unit, chaired by Security Minister Dan Jarvis, will bring together government departments, policing partners and trading standards. 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."
Coordinated raids under Operation Machinize 2 have already targeted cash-intensive businesses in the "grey economy," leading to raids on more than 2,700 premises and 924 arrests. Police seized over £10.7m of suspected illegal proceeds, 111,000 illegal vapes, 70kg of cannabis and 4.5m illegal cigarettes.
Research released in January showed people feel high streets have declined more than any other part of their local area. Improving shopping precincts was the third most important local issue for voters, behind good healthcare and reducing crime, according to YouGov polling. Reform UK supporters were more likely than anyone else to say their area had significantly declined - which researchers called a "deep sense of place-based resentment" towards Westminster. So the government is finally doing something about those shops. It only took a billion pounds in laundered cash and a lot of suspiciously cheap vapes.