A new £20m National Crime Agency unit will target "dodgy" retail outlets like vape stores and mini-marts suspected of laundering £1bn of criminal money annually. The initiative aims to combat tax fraud, counterfeit goods, and illegal work, with 75 officers recruited for investigations and raids.
A new £20m National Crime Agency unit will target UK retail businesses like vape stores and mini-marts suspected of laundering £1bn of criminal money annually. The initiative aims to combat tax evasion, counterfeit goods, and organised crime on high streets.
A BBC investigation reveals Trading Standards officers across the UK face extreme threats from organized crime gangs running illegal mini-marts and vape shops. One officer, Mandy, received midnight death threats and had her car rammed twice, forcing her and her husband to move home. A CTSI survey shows 96% of front-line teams now deal with organized crime, with 70% facing threats or violence. The government has pledged £10m annually for three years and 120 new apprentices.
West Midlands Police have arrested a man and woman in Dudley on suspicion of supplying drugs through shops, following a BBC investigation that found cocaine, cannabis, laughing gas and prescription pills being offered for sale in mini-marts across UK High Streets. The investigation uncovered drugs in more than 70 shops nationwide. Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged more police and stronger powers, while opposition parties criticised the government response.
Two people have been arrested in Dudley, West Midlands on suspicion of supplying drugs through shops. The arrests follow a BBC investigation revealing cocaine, cannabis, laughing gas and prescription pills being sold in mini-marts across UK High Streets. PM Keir Starmer pledged stronger powers and more police to tackle such criminality. The NCA and CTSI said shopfronts are being exploited by criminal gangs.
A BBC investigation has uncovered cocaine and cannabis being openly sold in mini-marts across the West Midlands. Undercover researchers secretly filmed in towns including one shop called Cradley Market, where a worker named Akwa supplied 3.5g of cannabis for £30 within seconds and later provided cocaine, saying he had "weed, coke, everything". The Home Office said it is working with police, the NCA and Trading Standards to take action.
A BBC undercover investigation has revealed that mini-marts across four West Midlands towns are openly selling cocaine, cannabis, nitrous oxide and prescription drugs. Researchers were able to purchase illegal substances from shops in Cradley Heath, Dudley, Lye and Brierley Hill, with one law enforcement source describing one street as 'lawless'. The NCA and Trading Standards Institute confirm organised criminal gangs are exploiting shopfronts nationwide, with drugs found in over 70 shops across the UK.
