Security Minister Dan Jarvis has urged the public to report “dodgy barbers” and suspicious vape shops as the government unveiled a major nationwide crackdown on organised crime operating through High Street businesses.
Under the new government plans, thousands of raids are expected to take place over the next three years.
Speaking a day after ministers announced a new £30 million enforcement drive led by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Jarvis said criminality had been taking place “in plain sight” in some cash-based businesses across the country.
“We’re calling time on that type of activity,” Jarvis said, warning that rogue barber shops, vape stores and other retail premises were increasingly being used as fronts for organised crime.
“Where people see activity that they believe is criminal, they absolutely should report it,” he told Times Radio. “There’s a really important role for the public. They are our eyes and ears, and they can provide information and intelligence that is hugely valuable to the police and to local enforcement.”
Jarvis added: “Where people see activity that they think is suspicious, that absolutely should be reported."
The comments come amid growing concern over the rapid rise of dodgy stores such as barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and American candy shops suspected of links to organised criminal networks involved in money laundering, illegal working, counterfeit goods and drug supply.
Earlier Jarvis told BBC that there would be thousands of raids on high streets across the country in the coming months and he was "confident we will see serious organised criminals imprisoned" and "millions of pounds of laundered money seized".
He added that the new collaboration between the NCA, trading standards, local police forces and HMRC would see much better targeting of enforcement around the country.
Criminal gangs have exploited our high streets to launder their dirty money and undercut honest businesses.
We're 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. pic.twitter.com/gneHKydzc2
— Shabana Mahmood MP (@ShabanaMahmood) May 19, 2026
Around £20m of the funding will go towards the NCA-led unit, while 75 new police officers will be deployed across hotspot regions including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, and Essex and Kent. A further £6m will go to trading standards services.
According to Trading Standards estimates, as many as half of convenience stores and vape retailers in some areas may have links to organised crime. Authorities also believe up to a third of American candy stores and one in four fast-food takeaways in certain locations could be operating as fronts for criminal activity.
The government is also reviewing whether stronger closure powers are needed to shut rogue businesses down for longer periods. Current laws generally allow courts to close premises for up to three months.
The crackdown follows a series of investigations and enforcement operations across the UK. In London alone, the Metropolitan Police Service last year visited 30 businesses including barber shops, fast-food outlets, nail bars and car workshops suspected of links to organised crime.
During the operation, officers seized more than £240,000 worth of counterfeit goods, along with illegal knives, illicit vapes and £22,000 in cash.
The NCA estimates that at least £1bn in criminal cash is laundered through UK High Street businesses every year through offences linked to fake goods, illegal tobacco, tax evasion, illegal working and drug supply.
According to the agency, 950 arrests have already been made and more than £10m worth of goods seized over the past 18 months as part of ongoing enforcement efforts targeting illicit High Street activity.