Operation Machinize Targets Hundreds of Barbershops Nationwide

Operation Machinize, a three-week initiative coordinated by the National Crime Agency (NCA), targeted 265 cash-intensive businesses, primarily barbershops, across England and Wales in a crackdown on money laundering and modern slavery. The operation resulted in the freezing of over £1 million in bank accounts, execution of 85 warrants, and 35 arrests, with 55 individuals questioned about their immigration status and 97 safeguarded from potential exploitation. Law enforcement also seized more than £40,000 in cash, 200,000 cigarettes, 7,000 packs of tobacco, over 8,000 illegal vapes, and discovered two cannabis farms containing 150 plants. This crackdown involved 19 police forces and aims to disrupt the laundering of an estimated £12 billion of criminal cash generated annually in the UK. Rachael Herbert from the NCA emphasized the use of cash-intensive businesses as fronts for various criminal activities, linking them to significant threats such as drug trafficking and human trafficking. Following the operation, ten shops have already been shut down, with more closures anticipated as investigations continue.