Organised crime gangs operating across Britain’s high streets will be hit with a major police offensive in a new nationwide crackdown on "dodgy shops", according to the Home Office. The government department claims that "rogue barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops linked to organised crime" will face raids, closures and cash seizures under a new £30 million crackdown targeting money laundering, tax evasion, and illegal working over three years.

Funding worth £20m will be allocated to an enhanced law enforcement response, including the set-up of a multi-agency co-ordination cell based at the National Crime Agency (NCA). Police officers will also be uplifted across forces in hotspot regions.

Altogether, 75 new police officers will be recruited across the NCA, Greater Manchester Police, West Midlands Police and a joint Kent Police and Essex Police Unit. The aim will be to build national intelligence and increase the number of dedicated officers tackling organised crime on the ground.

Trading Standards will also be backed with £6m in new funding to bolster the response to sham businesses in at-risk local authorities. New officer training will be rolled out to identify suspicious businesses, strengthen business compliance, and boost enforcement.

A new High Street Organised Crime Unit has also been established to bring together government departments, policing partners, and Trading Standards. Together, the additional funding and new unit build on strong enforcement action, such as Operation Machinize, to boost the national and local response to targeting criminal networks operating in plain sight on Britain’s high streets.

Overseen by Security Minister Dan Jarvis, the unit will be responsiblethey can be strengthened, starting with a consultation on extending, where appropriate, the duration of closure orders to shut down criminal businesses pid review of local responders’ powers is underway to explore how these can be strengthened, starting with a consultation on extending the duration of closure orders, where appropriate, to shut criminal businesses down for longer.

It comes as the NCA estimates at least £12bn of criminal cash is generated in the UK each year, with £1bn laundered through high street businesses - like mini-marts, barber shops, vape stores and sweet shops. Thousands of businesses are expected to be raided, hundreds of arrests made, and millions in cash seized as part of the national intensification campaign.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Criminal gangs have exploited our high streets to launder their dirty money and undercut honest businesses. We are hitting back with a nationwide crackdown to shut these fronts down, seize dirty cash and drive organised crime off our high streets and put bosses behind bars."

DC Nik Adams, City of London Police and National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Financial Investigation and Asset Recovery, said: "Our high streets should be places where legitimate businesses can grow, not places where organised criminals hide behind shopfronts. This task force will harness the efforts of the National Crime Agency, national economic crime leads, local community policing, specialist officers and partners to target the businesses being used to launder criminal money, recover criminal assets and protect legitimate traders.

"The message to organised criminals is clear. If criminal cash is being pushed through high street businesses, policing and our partners will act. Through the High Street Organised Crime Unit, we will use intelligence, asset recovery and financial investigation to turn local disruption into lasting national impact."