Am I right to be suspicious!? Something not right going on

[coffeewithmilk]

I'm renting an apartment with my husband. Our sitting room window overlooks a tanning salon which is also an Internet cafe.
I have become almost obsessed with seeing who is going in and out - I feel something dodgey is going on in there! Constant older men with flashy cars parking outside, young lads in tracksuits going in and out - none of them coming out more tanned than when they went in.
It has been nice over lockdown because there hasn't been anyone around - but now it's open again and it is manic busy

Surely that many people aren't using tanning beds?!

I also noticed that after closing in the evenings, they sometimes leave some of their tanning beds running (I can see the lights through the window)

If it is the dealings of something not right, like drugs or sex work - should I tell someone about it?

My husband thinks I'm over reacting and thinks I should just turn a blind eye as we are only renting and won't be here for too much longer

What would you do?

Why not go in yourself and enquire about their prices? If they look bemused at a woman coming in, maybe there’s more to it. If they say ‘It’s a pound a minute or four quid for five’, it’s probably a tanning salon.

Is it alongside the quay, just past the Ha’penny Bridge?

I would be suspicious too!

Saying that, money-laundering places are usually restaurants.

Got a restaurant in your town that nobody EVER goes to, empty every night of the week and has been that way for 10-15 years with no sign of shutting down?

Yeeeeaaah.

How long are the customers staying in the shop for? Tanning beds usually run for 3/6/9/12 minutes and then there is the time it takes to change, cream up, wipe the bed and then donut again when you’re finished plus waiting time if there is a queue. I’d say the quickest visit would probably be about 10 minutes although regular tanners don’t usually just have 3 or 6 minutes so visits will likely be about 20 minutes. Does that sounds accurate for what you’re seeing OP?

@KnobblyWand A Window company in my town got shut down for money laundering. It was a really grotty little showroom that I never saw a soul go into.

I agree with agree Green Tulips. It's not always doing the right thing to mind one's own business. It's almost certainly nothing, especially if it was really quiet during lockdown - people find a way to indulge their vices. And it's a bit of draw - meh. But there might be a few upstairs rooms packed with 14-year-old Lithuanian girls and their gangmaster. Can't see the harm reporting it.

[quote VioletGrace]@KnobblyWand A Window company in my town got shut down for money laundering. It was a really grotty little showroom that I never saw a soul go into.[/quote]
Ooh, a window company. That's a creative one.

Got a restaurant in your town that nobody EVER goes to, empty every night of the week and has been that way for 10-15 years with no sign of shutting down?

Ironically, as I know from a friend who works for HMRC, restaurants are regularly getting busted for not declaring all their revenue/profits. So we've legitimate businesses trying to sneak money out and fake businesses trying to sneak money in. Maybe we could set up some kind of introduction service.

" if 99% of people going into a tanning salon are men then that does seem suspicious. "

But it's an internet cafe as well.

'Mind your business' being said when it could be a crime happening and potentially exploitation of women, on a women's forum. Typical of mumsnet that really.

Just call the police op and let them investigate. If it's nothing, no harm done. But I would find it weird too if it was mainly men using a tanning salon.

I don't really know what you'd say if you reported it to the police - men go in and out is hardly enough for them to go on. It may well be dodgy, but you really don't know.

I used to work opposite a place that had tanning beds. It was definitely a legit place. The vast majority of the customers were men, and the types you have there totally fit. Older mid life crisis guys and younger guys, often the same ones you'd see at the gym.

There might be something dodgy going on, but your description sounds right for the business to me.

My mother’s neighbours are up to no good with their takeaway vans, probably drugs and money laundering I suppose. During the height of lockdown when they couldn’t operate there were men coming and going constantly. Now they’re back out on the streets all the callers have stopped again. No point calling the police. I’m very sure they’re very well aware of what’s going on.

OP you need to do better reconnaissance: track how long they are in there for? 15 minutes is a tan or haircut, 3-5 minutes is drugs, longer than 15 could be sex. Are they coming out with haircuts? Are you seeing the same guys over and over? Do you see ANY women going in and coming back out or only men? You could always call the police but if you fancy yourself intuitive and an armchair detective, set up a video camera (even a propped up mobile phone will do) and do some proper surveillance.

I think you have a very active imagination & you're probably a little bored at home.

Watch Rear Window first to see how it’s done.

I work on a modern slavery multi agency team. Please call tel:+448000121700 and voice your concerns as we cover sex workers, cannabis farms, etc.

If there is nothing to it then nothing lost. A visit will be made and checks done. If all above board then no action taken, however if you your post helps the people concerned then you have done a great thing !

Literally NOTHING to lose.

@Moonshinemisses

I think you have a very active imagination & you're probably a little bored at home.

Not necessarily, criminals operate everywhere, even in my relatively small immediate local area there have in the past couple of years been a cannabis farm and money laundering operation, both came to light from reports by members of the public.

I used to use sun beds and at the salon I went to I would say a good 70% of the clientele I came across were men which I always found very odd

Why don't you get your husband to phone up and ask what services they offer?

17:07TheLegendOfZelda
Have you watched Talking Heads?
Do you mean the Imelda Staunton episode where she was criticising her neighbours for going out in the evening and leaving the child at home? (I've only seen that one and two others)

Why are people saying 'Are they coming out with haircuts?'. It's a Tanning Salon FFS! Not a hairdressers!

TerrapinStation I'm aware of how criminals work I've been in the prison service for 15yrs. If she was genuinely concerned she'd be calling the police.