National crackdown on high street crime seizes 6.3 million illegal cigarettes and 49,000 vapes

A month-long national crackdown on criminals using high street shops as fronts for money laundering has seized millions of pounds' worth of illegal goods, including 6.3 million illegal cigarettes and nearly 50,000 illegal vapes, the National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on 11 November.

Operation Machinize, coordinated by the NCA with the National Police Chiefs' Council, involved every police force in the UK, including Birmingham's, alongside Trading Standards, HM Revenue and Customs, Immigration Enforcement and others. The latest month of action ran throughout October 2026.

What was seized

During the month, £4.2 million of duty tax evasion was identified or prevented. Seizures worth £6.8 million included:

£2.6 million worth of illegal drugs.

49,295 illegal vapes.

1,645kg of illegal tobacco.

6.3 million illegal cigarettes.

The NCA estimates that at least £1 billion of criminal cash is laundered through cash-intensive high street businesses such as vape shops and barbers in the UK every year. Across the operation as a whole, more than 6,000 businesses have now been raided.

"Those days are coming to an end"

Sal Melki, Deputy Director of Illicit Finance at the NCA, said: "We are making a difference. Through our collective operations across the last 18 months we have raided over 6,000 businesses, arrested more than 1,300 offenders and seized £19m of criminal value."

"It is changing criminal behaviours and showing them the high street is no longer a safe place for them to operate. For a long time, criminals thought they could hide in plain sight, but those days are coming to an end."

The First Secretary of State, Louise Haigh, said: "For too long, our high streets have become a marker of decline. People have felt powerless to stop the rise of dodgy shops opening in vacant premises, while independent businesses, community centres and local pubs close their doors."

Now running all year round

The operation has evolved over three phases, from barbers and similar shops used as fronts, to the wider grey economy, and now to the criminals further up the chain who profit most. The NCA says Machinize is no longer just a month of action but runs "around the clock, 365 days a year", with a permanent coordination and intelligence team supporting forces.

The Birmingham picture

The national results echo the work being done locally. Earlier this week, Birmingham City Council reported that more than £546,000 of illicit tobacco, vapes and other goods had been removed from the city's streets since the start of October through Operation Cloud, its joint operation with Birmingham police, including one of the largest single-shop tobacco seizures the city has seen.

Illegal cigarettes and vapes are sold without safety checks, are often sold to children, and undercut honest shopkeepers. Anyone with concerns about a shop selling illicit goods can report it to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline, or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.