The National Crime Bureau is investigating the Turkish-style barbershop boom on the High Street over concerns that the facilities are being used by gangs for money laundering and other organized crime.
NCA officials have overseen dozens of attacks nationwide over the past month, resulting in numerous arrests and tens of thousands of pounds of seizures.
The crackdown included many police forces, HM Revenue & Customs Inspectors, and the immigration enforcement department of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Many barbershops are suspected of being used as a frontline to wash drug money and other criminal benefits, providing jobs to illegal immigrants.
In some attacks in the northeastern England, tax inspectors are understood to have counted. We secretly recorded the number of chairs in the salon and the number of customers entering the store to see if it was tallied with profits declared by the business.
“A half a dozen barbers have all declared large-scale efforts on the same street, but most of the time the sky is empty.
According to retail analytics firm Green Street, the number of barbershops of all kinds across the UK has grown to 18,411, up more than 50% since 2018. Over 750 facilities opened last year.
Barbers can operate as the only trader, so you don't need to register as a business with your company's home.
Jetta Production/Getty Images
Turkish-style barbers usually offer shaves with hot towels and razors of cut throats. Mostly legal business. However, the fact that several barber shops are currently being investigated by the NCA shows that organized criminal groups are exploiting trade. The only shops targeted this month's business was primarily cash.
Many are run by Kurds and Albanians, but in many cases the shop sells itself as a “Turkey” barber. Criminals from both of these communities are associated with drugs and smuggling.
The NCA stated: “In recent years, information has been rising that links the use of barbershops and other cash-intensive companies to money laundering and other criminality. To respond to this threat, the NCA has relied steadily on targeting barbershops where suspicious activity has been identified and where it is possible to organize 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.”
The nationwide operations included a combination of raids on suspected sites and a “friendly visit” to get further information.
Money laundering involves misrepresenting the benefits of criminal acts such as drug sales.
Last December, Bas Javid, director of the Department of Home Affairs' Immigration Enforcement, said people who used cash-only barbers, nail bars and car washes were at risk of “feeding the problems” perpetuating illegal immigration and modern slavery.
The former barber already well known to the NCA is 31-year-old Hewa Rahimpur, a key figure in the pan-European smuggling ring, which has brought up to 10,000 immigrants from France from Britain on a small boat for 18 months.
Hulahanpur at Westminster Magistrates Court in 2022
Elizabeth Cuck/PA
Rahapur, an Iranian Kurdishman who once ran a barber shop in Camden, north of London, was arrested in 2022 on Mercedes wheels. He was extradited to Belgium to be tried with other gang members and was jailed for 11 years for a crime of human trafficking.
However, the role of investigators in the UK is complicated by the fact that barbers can instead operate as the sole trader and file self-assessment tax returns, so there is no need to register as a business with the company's home. Some facilities bring individual chairs to hairstylists. Both factors make it potentially difficult to track the overall flow of money.
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This was the spread of barbershops in the UK, and in some cases the opening of businesses has been allegedly piqued anger and violence.
Last month, eight men were charged with violent disorders in Blackwood and Newbridge, South Wales, after a massive street brawl allegedly involving a rival barber. Police describe the fight as an “isolated incident.” There are no other suggestions for links to crime.