A recent crackdown by the National Crime Agency (NCA) has exposed widespread money laundering operations utilizing seemingly legitimate businesses across Britain, prompting a former police officer to express concerns about the current state of law enforcement.
Operation Machinize, the NCA’s initiative, involved visits to 265 premises nationwide. The operation resulted in significant seizures including:
- Over £40,000 in cash
- 200,000 cigarettes
- 7,000 packs of tobacco
- More than 8,000 illegal vapes
- Two vehicles
Rachael Herbert, Deputy Director of the National Economic Crime Centre at the NCA, lauded the operation’s success, stating: “The excellent results from the first iteration of Operation Machinize are testament to the tireless work of officers across the country, and demonstrate our resolve to clamp down on organised criminality abusing the high street.”
Retired police officer and director of the Law and Order Foundation, Norman Brennan, voiced his alarm during an appearance on GB News. He observed a concerning trend in his local area, the London Borough of Richmond, remarking that he has “never seen so many empty barber shops” in his 46 years living there.
“I’ve obviously been following these raids, and I’m also aware from my own area, the London Borough of Richmond, I’ve never seen so many barber shops open in the 46 years I’ve lived in this borough.” He further commented that the number of barbershops seems to outnumber coffee shops, with most remaining unoccupied.
Brennan likened these money laundering schemes to a “launderette” for illicit funds. “You take your dirty money in, you put it through the washer and it comes out clean, through what apparently is deemed as a legitimate business,”
he explained, suggesting the scale of the operation could involve hundreds of millions of pounds.
Asked about how these businesses can operate so extensively under Britain’s legal framework, Brennan asserted that the nation has become “lawless.” “We have basically sleepwalked into a state of anarchy, and there are no police officers to police. These criminals know that the police cannot cope and they’re taking advantage of it,”
he stated.
He elaborated on how these businesses are often established, noting that criminal gangs frequently utilize family members with clean records to facilitate the setup. “They probably send people over, or people are in Britain that are law abiding members of the public, part of their families or known to their gangs. So they keep quite clean, and they’ve got a clear record,”
Brennan explained.
He added that while these businesses may not overtly deceive customers by overcharging, the underlying purpose is to launder money, often funding criminal activities like drug trafficking.
