Shocking Britain

[ShockingBritain]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxplq92rx1o

The crime wave from overseas gang led, drug dealing, money laundering, fake cigarettes, etc dominating our High Streets.

"We will kill you and burn your house': Council staff under attack from High Street gangs"

They are not being controlled. Illegal tobacco under the counter, spice laced vapes sold to kids, cash only barbers, money laundering.

Investigators are met with violence and threats.

"THEY DON'T PLAY BY THE SAME RULES AS EVERYONE ELSE"

"She faced escalating threats from a Kurdish crime gang, that had been selling illegal cigarettes and nitrous oxide canisters in mini-marts across the UK."

We had a similar shop closed recently after a raid found illegal vapes, large amounts of cash, drugs. Another popped up around the corner days later.

What's your AIBU?

I don't have one. I think, asking if it was shocking would be pointless since hopefully? most would find it shocking.

Aibu has been used for a very long time for discussion too, hence the ability to post a thread without a poll. 😊

Do you have these shops in your town, city, village selling under the counter illegal or dangerous items?

I found the BBC investigation shocking but not surprising.

I’m not shocked in the slightest. These illegal shops are quite brazen in our communities. The only shocking thing is that people are shocked. These shops will disappear the minute we move to a cashless society. The sooner the better.

The shops should tackled nationwide whether we are cashless or not. They are criminal in nature and children frequent them.

Do you have these shops in your town, city, village selling under the counter illegal or dangerous items?

Never having tried to buy any, I have no sodding idea.

I might check it out though. What sort of shop should I try and what should I ask for?

Why would you want to do that?

A report today said that 97% of trading standards officers know that there's at least one shop on their local high street that is a money laundering front for criminal activity - typically drug dealing and people smuggling.

The worst culprits are vape shops, Turkish barbers and nail bars.

They need rounding up and these shops closed, all of them. Unfortunately this will be used by the haters of immigrants to tar all immigrants with the same brush, which is unfair.

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a policeman I know told me that 90% of this kind of shop in the local city is a front. He said they have false floors/walls to conceal cash/contraband.

In my small conurbation there five five barber shops - out of about 15 shops in total. What’s more a sizeable number of men here have little or no hair (elderly). Minimum wage clearly doesn’t bother these businesses as they’ve got about six blokes in each shop swivelling in their chairs stabbing at their phones.

I'm astonished at the BBC for running with this story. They seem to have given up their relentless campaign to portray Britain as a successful multicultural paradise, in favour of ... reality.

I live in a neighbourhood with lots of these mini marts, nail bars, vape shops, Turkish barbers etc. I'd love to see a clampdown on criminal activity by all in authority including police. An acknowledgement that it's happening is a good start.

It’s the barbers in my area too. Far too many. I tell DH to go elsewhere, and not contribute to the scam. We have a vape shop as well, but several barbers.

Yes this and another recent story surprised me. Maybe the drop in funds is getting through.

Aibu has been used for a very long time for discussion too, hence the ability to post a thread without a poll. 😊

It's been used for a very long time by journalists too.

Mass deportation the answer.

Confiscate assets as redress, take DNA sample (to prevent re-entry), then deport.

I've seen these shops for years and wondered how they stay in business with so much competition from the same types of business and all of them with very few customers. I think they can found everywhere.

Clearly Trading Standards Officers do not have the clout to confront them and the police can't unless they have evidence of illegal activity. HMRC, on the other hand, can investigate any business they suspect of tax evasion. These businesses that are still running on a cash basis could be monitored if HMRC chose to.

It seems to me that all the agencies involved with investigating these types of crimes are focussing on the top of the chain which is a long process, often taking years. And when they do eventually arrest those at the top they are immediately replaced by the criminals below them. Focussing on the top tier doesn't actually work. But like everything else in this shithole country there isn't sufficient funds to tackle these problems at all levels.

My local high street and a nearby shopping street now has five Turkish barbers and two vape shops (from zero about 15 years ago) between them.

The vape shops are ALWAYS empty, the barbers might have one person in them.

A lack of singular sense of purpose, a lack of civic pride, inability to get things done. And no Reform is not the answer.

I am not sure what is. But other countries in the main are leading in technology, in being clean, taking pride in their surroundings, safe, innovative and in being hardworking.

We all have problems they seem not to, and if not careful will not be able to compete for global contracts in the future. We will be too far behind.

Our values matter too. What we live by, what is wrong and right. It needs to be cohesive.

Yes, maybe they've woken up to the fact that they're supposed to be impartial and not everyone shares the same opinions as them and their dinner party circuit.

Interesting how Sky News is running this too.

For years this has been happening, for years people have been speaking out, for years local authorities have known who where what, for years the police and trading standards do performative raids on dodgy shops. Yet nothing changes they only seem to increase in numbers.

My question is who is in whose pockets that the majority of towns and cities in this country are seemingly now rife with these fronts?

Why are there so many various foreign nationalities running them? It’s like a parallel society that now brazenly coexists with the OCG underworld.

What illicit dealings are so prevalent they are being laundered on such a vast scale?

Well clearly people in very high places have been facilitating the gangs and /or turning a blind eye. This situation didn’t need to happen but it’s been allowed to.

It’s endemic which means pretty much all councils are essentially infiltrated and compromised by blind eyes.