To think that (some) vaping shops and barbers are fronts ....

Of course they are well dodgy.
I only go to a hair salon owned by white english people.
No im not racist in any way but I want to protect myself from anything illegal.
Lots of beauty salons run by untrained people too no thanks.
I epilate my legs myself.
I dye my own hair I only get a dry cut.

I just saw this on the BBC news site, OP and thought of this thread!

Not UK, but it's similar here. Nicotine vapes are only dispensed by pharmacists now & I've noticed an uptick in traditional cigarette smoking. There's a LOT of tobacco shops. Mostly, it's illegal tobacco sales because our tax on cigarettes is sky high.

I had a mum of DS's school friend casually telling me she went to X place & just paid X (cheap) amount for a huge number of cigarettes. She had no idea / didn't want to know she was buying illegal products, just wanted her cheap ciggies.

There's wars going on in one major city. The gangs are burning each other's shop fronts down.

yes, particularly Turkish restaurants, barbers and Asian nail bars.

Of course they are.. loads of vape shops round here .. owners got " done" or shut down for money laundering.

Yes my DH used to go to one in London before we moved areas which was always full of men getting spa like treatment with hair nicely cut and facials and nasal, ear and monobrow removal with black heads squeezed etc and head and shoulder massaged, with hot towels lol and the old guy that owned it was there for maybe 40+ years so was always super busy so doubt he was laundering money. The customers were such a mix from different ethnic backgrounds and race from old to young and little kids but now in my new area there are about 5 of these barber shops and are always empty and I heard them speak not Turkish as I'm familiar with the language after living in North London for so long so what you said might be true.

I live in a very naice village in the Home Counties. Three pubs, two all the villagers chat about and use, other one prime position overlooking the common, very well maintained, but blinds closed and always a couple of random white vans in the car park, nothing else. When I was a newbie in the village I popped in and asked for glass of wine. Tumbleweed… bloke behind the counter just looked at me, dead silent for what felt like forever, and then quietly said, ‘We don’t serve wine’. Strangely enough I’ve never been back! At least the criminals keep the flintwork on it in perfect condition…

Money laundering.

These drive me nuts. In my business we have government inspectors who measure cm’s of concrete to ensure the taxpayers money is being used fairly. Quite right too. Imagine if the government put in the same amount of effort to people who fight back.

Why the hell are we not going after these clearly illegal money laundering or drug front shops.

It's disgraceful that it's so blatant. It's like crime has been decriminalised.

Of course they are

There's a fish and chip shop and an ice cream parlour across the road from where I work.

Doesn't matter what time of day or night you go by, there is never a single person in there. Not a soul. Ever. Not even staff. Yet they stay tidy and the lights go on in the evening. So not abandoned.

Same with the two 'grill' type takeaway places. Perpetually empty.

You haven't heard of cat cafes or seen the news about Whatsapp groups, are you spending too much time thinking about shops that everyone knows are for money laundering 😁

Well everyone in my area knows exactly who the king pin is and where he and his family live. They also know which private security firm they use and who their very expensive lawyers and accountants are. The police just don't even want to go there. Too risky and too much work.

Another one. Shop closes. Then reopens under the same name selling the same stuff. Closes down again for months. Repeat.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5306127-maxie-allen-and-rosalind-levine-arrested-the-vindictiveness-of-the-school-and-police-overreach?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Brilliant series! Must watch it again before it disappears off Netflix!

The Police tend not to go for the tow rags that sell the street drugs, they're trying to find the king pins of these groups to close the whole lot down.

For those asking why the police turn a blind eye, I think in many cases it's kind of a case of 'better the devil you know' so long as the shops basically keep their heads down and don't move into violent crime/gang wars etc. In my city there are a couple of drug operations (one apparently focuses on coke, the other generally on hash/ketamine/dodgy prescription drugs. They deliver and both have a fleet of very obvious drivers (the coke sellers all have matching extremely noticeable white Audis...) and drive around the dodgier areas, pull up with lights/hazards on, someone runs out from a nearby house with cash in hand and does a quick swap for whatever they're buying then off they drive to the next customer.

It's so incredibly obvious and well known and has been for many many years, there is just no chance the police aren't fully aware. I can only imagine that in the police's minds, if they lock up all these gang members it'll leave a gap in the market that may be filled with far worse criminals and/or gang fighting to take over. As it is they don't really cause any harm (other than the obvious negatives associated with drugs which would still be present with whoever did take over) or drama.

And yeah there are lots of 'front' businesses. I work away from home on weekdays and every second shop in the large fairly downmarket town on the outskirts of London that I stay in is a kebab shop/cheap takeaway. I very rarely see anyone actually ordering food in any of these places and certainly not enough to pay the rent! I actually went in to a couple for chicken wraps when I first started working here and they were awful - my colleagues laughed so hard when I grumbled about the food quality 😅. I think pretty much every family in the town would need to be going for takeaways multiple times a week for these to be genuine profitable business ventures!

I just assume that most retail units are a front for money laundering 😄😄

In 2025, the rents are so expensive, it makes sense that only criminals could afford to pay them

These barbershops are often not following proper infection control measures either - see recent news stories regarding an increase in skin infections suspected to be being transmitted through poor hygiene practice.

There is a chicken shop that is never open in a really nice location near me that looks very dusty. I just assume money laundering. Watched too much Ozark!