Labour is stepping up its crackdown on high street businesses being used by organised criminal gangs to launder money, with Dan Jarvis pledging more raids, cash seizures and tougher powers to keep rogue premises closed.
The Government is targeting businesses suspected of being fronts for wider criminal activity, including some vape shops, mini-marts, barbers and other cash-intensive premises.
Writing on X, Jarvis said:
“Criminal gangs are hiding in plain sight, using dodgy shops on our high streets to launder money.
“That’s why we’re cracking down with more raids, cash seizures, and new powers to keep them shut for longer.
“We’re going after criminals and backing legitimate businesses.”
The intervention comes as the Government intensifies efforts against organised crime operating through apparently legitimate high street businesses.
Official figures underline the scale of the problem. The National Crime Agency estimates that at least £12 billion in criminal cash is generated in the UK every year, with high street businesses among the routes used to launder criminal proceeds. Such premises can also be associated with illicit goods, tax evasion and drug supply.
Previous nationwide enforcement action demonstrates the potential scale of the activity. Operation Machinize 2, led by the NCA with police forces and other enforcement agencies, visited or raided 2,734 premises, resulted in 924 arrests and saw more than £10.7 million in suspected criminal proceeds seized. More than £2.7 million worth of illicit goods were also destroyed.
The Government is now pursuing a £30 million High Street Organised Crime initiative aimed at rogue storefronts linked to illicit trade, money laundering and serious organised crime. The approach brings together police, the NCA, councils, Trading Standards, HMRC and immigration enforcement.
The measures form part of Labour’s wider agenda to revive high streets while protecting legitimate businesses from unfair competition.
They also complement the Government’s moves to give councils greater control over the proliferation of businesses such as vape shops, betting shops and adult gaming centres.
Jarvis’s message is that enforcement will distinguish between legitimate entrepreneurs contributing to their communities and businesses being exploited as fronts for criminality.
For Labour, the crackdown is about both law and order and economic fairness: taking criminal money out of high streets while backing the legitimate small businesses that create jobs and serve their communities.
