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

[crockofshite]

..... for dodgy dealings? There are so many of these shops in every high street, how can there be enough customers to support them?

I was wondering this about bubble tea there's so many on my local high street yet all the decent shops are closing down. Most of them here have no seating and don't even sell food (the ones in my area)

Yes, loads of small cash transactions, perfect for laundering. Hypothetically of course. I'm sure nothing of that nature ever goes on.

I used to live near a pet shop that was a front for selling other things.

I once saw them selling tobacco (clearly bought from another country - packaging wasn’t English) unsure if they sold anything else.

I was so naive back then, I’d be buying my chicken feed thinking that selling tobacco from a pet shop was normal.

There are lots of businesses they may be the front for dodgy dealings

Barbers opposite my regular nail bar. No one is barbering. I kid you not, 10 blokes an hour go in there, chat, then leave 5 mins later.

Of course they are - add to this some nail bars/beauty salons, 'aestheticians', some takeaways and dessert places, they're the usual suspects.

I mean, isn't that well known?

Nail bars are often fronts for human trafficking and these little shops are often fronts for money Laundering and drugs...

Of course they are. They are a front for money laundering proceeds from crime, usually drugs, people trafficking and prostitution.

So if everyone 'knows' these places are shonky how are they allowed to continue their dodgy dealings. They must be easy pickings for customs and excise, HMRC, police etc.

They are absolutely everywhere here. All the decent shops shut as well as can’t afford the rents, rates, wages etc. Yet these shops seem to go on and on. It is bizarre. And also annoying - the number of parcels I have had gone ‘missing’ from click and collect at these places is unreal. Thankfully I have my shops now but it was like pot luck for a good few years until I figured out who was legit and who wasn’t.

Difference between our local council and vape shops/barbers?

You actually get what you pay for at the vape shops and barbers.

They seem to just leave them alone. It's utterly bizarre.

Yesssss, without a doubt. I took my son to our usual Turkish barber (one of very many in the town ). An unsavoury or two walked in with an intimidating presence. One of the barbers looked very scared. The other two had some whisperings with the blokes. Cue begging the unsavouries to come back later and "we'll sort it". Unsavoury then hung around fiddling with the barbers utensils- looked like he was trying to intimidate them. I felt a little uneasy to be honest, especially as I was with my child.
We walked past later and same blokes were there whilst shop was closed, till was open and money exchanging hands. Unsavouries then cycled off with snoods up and one had a balaclava on. I'm 100% certain criminal activity was taking place there. Likely drugs. It's scary.

You're right. They do seem to be left alone. I wonder whether the criminal underworld of drugs is so out of control that the powers that be just avoid it all.

Definitely. I never see anyone in vape shops! And they are in prime locations so must have expensive rents.

Never given a thought to the barbers. Bubble tea shops, nail salons, sweet shops and vape shops - often very dodgy.

Not just these. I see a number of independent estate agents which are never open and have only stock photos in the window.

I think this, it’s out of control and there isn’t the police power available to do anything.

Apologies if this is a silly question. They don't take cash so what would the aim be?

I saw quite a few of those when I lived in London and I can see they're not legitimate businesses but I can't work out what they're hiding. Unless it's like a whole fake paperwork operation going on there.

YABU - of course they are! Nowhere near enough resources to actually do anything, they'll be disrupted eventually and the dodgy landlord renting them out will then rent them out to new tenants. You'd probably need to increase police resources by 100% to actually do anything!

Fake paperwork with fake house sales. You can launder a lot of money through the bank accounts.

Customs & Excise doesn't exist anymore, it's now HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Border Force. Both of which have been absolutely decimated in staff numbers over the last 10 years, more so on the Customs and Excise part.

I am ex C&E then HMRC. They do still have task forces which look at the cash business which are a front for criminal activity, of course they do, and will likely have intel on most. I used to be part of 'distruptive' visits which were multi agency and designed to be quick hits to drive these particular businesses to close. Others might be left for evidence gathering for bigger cases. They can only do so much with limited resources though, and resources are so depleted...

Have you only just realised this?

It's so widespread it's a joke. Maybe needs serious campaign to get MPs to fight for better funding to tackle.

I agree, they are everywhere where I live and never a customer in them. All of the proper shops have almost all disappeared from the High Street and every other one is now either a barbers, a vape shop or a takeaway that nobody seems to use.