03.04.2025 09:20
The police in England conducted a money laundering operation targeting Turkish barber shops that are alleged to be used as fronts for criminal organizations. During the raid on 33 businesses, over £500,000 in illegal money was seized, and 7 people were arrested. The operation was aimed at allegations that the barber shops were being used for illegal activities.
The police in England conducted raids on Turkish barber shops as part of an operation against money laundering activities and seized over £500,000 in illegal cash.
Footage from police cameras captured the moments when teams raided barbers used as fronts by criminal organizations. Seven people were arrested during the operation that targeted 33 businesses last month.
This operation, called Machinize, was carried out jointly by West Mercia Police, Trading Standards, Fire Service, Immigration Office, and Revenue Agency. The operation was initiated against gangs using barber shops for fraud, money laundering, and illegal sales.
Detective Inspector Dan Fenn stated: "Organized crime groups use legitimate businesses like barber shops to hide illegal cash flows. The high cash turnover of these businesses is ideal for concealing illegal activities. With this operation, we are sending a clear message to criminal networks: we will not tolerate criminal activities in our community."
Tips from the public played a significant role in the operation. The police encourage citizens with information about businesses involved in money laundering to come forward.
Drug expert Gary Carroll noted that criminals tend to imitate the Turkish barber format: "When one criminal group sees another group's success, they imitate it. Although as a society we are moving away from cash usage, barbers still largely operate on a cash basis and can sustain this due to low prices. Additionally, this sector is not subject to regular inspections like food businesses."
Most of the shops that identify themselves as "Turkish barbers" are actually run by people of different nationalities, such as Kurds and Albanians. Carroll associates the increase in these shops with drug trafficking.
The arrest of human trafficker Hewa Rahimpur in 2022 revealed the dark truth behind the barber shop explosion. Rahimpur was caught on suspicion of bringing 10,000 migrants from France to England in small boats. His gang had made £13 million from the crossings and was laundering this money through a barber shop in North London.
Despite the rising crime allegations, many honest barber owners complain about being tarnished. Reeza Jafari, who runs a barber shop called Pasha in Tunbridge Wells, said: "People think that if you run a Turkish barber shop, you are connected to organized crime. In most cases, this is not true. We just want to make a living like everyone else. However, a few bad examples make us all look bad."