The “imitation” factor is one of the reasons for the growing popularity of Turkish-style barbershops among drug gangs who need to wash their money, experts said today during a new police crackdown.
The National Criminal Agency (NCA) oversees dozens of attacks on stores over the past month, making a series of arrests, seizing tens of thousands of pounds in the process.
Officials said the operation was driven by an increase in information reports linking barbershops to money laundering and other criminality. Over 750 people opened in the UK last year.
Gary Carroll, a drug expert who spent more than a decade in law enforcement and now testifies in court about street drug gangs, said there is a “imitation” side to the exploitation of the Turkish barber style by criminals.
“It's a well-trampled path where one crime group only copies when they see something working,” he told MailOnline.
'And while we are increasingly and further away from cash as a society, barbers are still primarily based on cash – something they can escape as the fees they charge are relatively low.
“Then it adds the appeal of this being an unregulated market that is not monitored by government agencies, which means there is a lack of enforcement without the one-off hygiene checks that are available in the food business.
Shops that sell themselves as “Türkiye” barbers are often run by other nationalities, including Kurds and Albanians.
Tarek Namouz (pictured), owner of Boss Clue Barbirs in west London, was sentenced last year in 2012 for sending £11,000 to Syrian ISIS supporters.
Namouse boasted to prison visitors while awaiting trial that he was able to send £25,000 to ISIS supporters who said he was raising funds
Still, Carol It portrayed the link between the rise of Turkish barbershops and the continued popularity of heroin, which gangs trafficked from other parts of Asia.
“If you look at money laundering, there is a well-established affiliation with Turkish heroin, and its demand certainly hasn't diminished in the UK,” he said.
NCA officers are working together with local police, immigration enforcement officers and HM revenue and customs inspectors to carry out attacks in British towns and cities.
One way is to monitor the tax inspectors The number of chairs used in salons is resolved when the profit declared by the business corresponds to the number of customers.
One official said the Sunday Times has multiple barbers declaring all the large take, despite most days being empty.
More than 750 barber shops opened in the UK last year, according to Retail Analytics Company Green Street. Since 2018, this number has increased by more than 15% to over 18,000.
Traditional Turkish-style barbers are known for their stylish haircuts – usually completed with a hot towel and a razor of cut throat.
However, the NCA probe points to growing concerns that criminals are invading trade.
Barber Hugh Rahanpur, 30, was a lynching pin for people in the vast cross-channel smuggling business.
He is seen arrested here by an NCA officer in East London. He was later handed over to Belgium to face trial
“In recent years, intelligence has risen that links the use of barbershops and other cash-intensive companies to money laundering and other criminality,” the spokesman said.
“To respond to this threat, the NCA coordinated the actions of multi-agency law enforcement agencies targeting barbershops when suspicious activity has been identified and there is link to organized crime.
“This involves numerous police forces across England and Wales, as well as other partners, including the HMRC and the Department of Interior's Immigration Enforcement.”
In the UK, barbers do not need to register as business with company homes, and instead have the option to operate as a sole trader.
Some shops leave individual chairs to the hairdresser.
The arrest of people smuggler Hewa Rahimpur in 2022 was one of the early signs of the dark reality behind the barber shop boom.
Rahapur and his fellow Irandian gang were detained on suspicion of bringing 10,000 migrants to Dover from the French coast in a small boat.
33-year-old Albanian Gal Wali Jabalkhell used his barber shop in Collindale, north of London, as a base for smuggling rackets.
The 30-year-old, who was granted exile after illegally arriving in Britain and claimed he had suffered from “political oppression” in his home country, drove his best Mercedes when he was caught by police.
His gangster entered the hairstyle business in Camden, north of London several years ago, earning £13 million in cash from the intersection and had to do some kind of washing.
He was extradited from the UK on trial in Belgium last year and is currently sentenced to 11 years in prison for human trafficking.
In his second famous trial, 33-year-old Afghanin Gal Wali Jabalkhell was accused of using his barber shop in Collindale, north of London, as a smuggling racket base.
In 2020, Jabalker fled to Kabul, Afghanistan, after realising that police were watching him.
Jabarkhel was convicted along with three others of his role after his trial at Kingston Crown Court two years ago, after the NCA described it as “a ruthless operation other than a commodity for humans to benefit.”
Some salons are also linked to terrorism, and Tarek Namos, the owner of Boss Clue Barbirs, a hair salon in West London, was sentenced last year for sending £11,000 to Syria to “purchasing weapons and explosives” to use against President Assad's government forces.
The barber, who lived above the salon in Hammersmith, boasted to prison visitors while awaiting trial that he was able to send £25,000 to an ISIS supporter who he actually raised.
Angry: Reza Jafari owns a legitimate Turkish barber shop in Kent and is tired of allegations of crime
The photo shows the street in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, where Jafari is located.
However, the growing criminality allegations related to barbershops have spurred a backlash among legal traders.
Last year, Reeza Jafari told MailOnline that he has plenty of people who have doubts about the store like him.
The 31-year-old who runs Pasha at Tunbridge Wells said:
“But most of the time, that's not true: we just want to make money and make a living just like everyone else.
“But a few bad things hurt the good things. Those that exist only for washing cash for criminals are so badly reflected on us all because we see them the same way.