'People are angry': Police smash through back door of Shrewsbury's barber shop suspected of being a front for gang crime
Police raided a barber and vape shop in Shrewsbury on suspicion of being a front for international gang crimes.
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With a warrant to search the premises for suspected money laundering, West Mercia Police officers smashed through the back doors of a barber shop in Shrewsbury town centre before detaining two men, both Kurdish asylum seekers.
Officers told the BBC that their intelligence suggested the shop was linked to the sale of illicit cigarettes and vapes, illegal immigration and drug dealing.
Det Insp Daniel Fenn, from West Mercia Police's Economic Crime team, said some barber shops have claimed income of £100,000 to £150,000 a month - but don’t have the number of customers to back these figures.
Det Insp Fenn said: “Members of the public are angry. They can see these fronts are there.
“The criminals feel they are hidden here. They think they can come to sleepy areas such as Shrewsbury and Telford and won't be found."
The BBC said it appeared that the two men detained - and later released - had been living in “barely furnished” rooms above the barbers.
Police also found an unpaid £7,000 gas bill, seized cash and illicit vapes.
This raid was the first of six that very day - and one of 265 carried out across England and Wales last month as part of Operation Machinize, a crackdown on High Street businesses engaged in criminal activity.
It was launched by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in response to growing intelligence reports that some of these shops are being used for money laundering.
In the month of March, 33 warrants were executed across West Mercia Police's three counties, focusing on gangs exploiting barbershops to conceal illegal cash flow.
Working alongside Trading Standards, West Midlands Fire and Rescue, Home Office Immigration, and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, police seized more £500,000 in illegal funds and £16,000 in cash and arrested four individuals.
Additionally, Trading Standards carried out three warrants, and Home Office Immigration questioned three individuals about their immigration status.
Det Insp Fenn said: "Organised crime groups are opportunistic and exploit legitimate businesses, such as barbershops, to hide their illegal cash flow. The high cash turnover of these businesses makes them ideal for disguising illicit activities.
“Our work during Operation Machinize sends a clear message to these crime networks: we will not tolerate criminal activity in our communities.
“Following these warrants, 34 intelligence reports have been submitted, helping to build a stronger intelligence picture and supporting future operations.
“Community intelligence played a key role in this operation. Some of the information used to plan these raids came from public tip-offs. That local support is invaluable, and we encourage anyone with information about businesses involved in money laundering to report it.”
In the past few months, Telford & Wrekin Council Trading Standards officers have been diligent in their pursuit to crack down on these crimes. In one raid in February, the officers seized 60 packs of hand-rolled tobacco and 470 vapes that did not meet the legal sale standards.
