Authorities have detained two Iranian nationals and a British citizen as part of a crackdown on a criminal network facilitating illegal employment for migrants across the UK.
The network, which has ties to over 100 small businesses—including mini-marts, car washes, and barber shops—spans from Dundee to South Devon.
Immigration officers conducted raids at several locations in Birmingham and the West Midlands, resulting in the arrest of two Iranian men, aged 32 and 28.
A 43-year-old man, who has been naturalized as a British citizen, was also taken into custody, according to the Home Office.
All three individuals are suspected of aiding illegal entry into the UK and promoting unlawful employment practices.
This investigation follows a recent exposé by BBC News, which revealed the presence of a criminal network that enables migrants to work in mini-marts across the country without the required legal work authorization.
The syndicate was discovered in an undercover operation that saw reporters pose as asylum seekers keen to purchase a shop that they could operate off the books – in exchange for a monthly fee paid to ‘ghost directors’.
These individuals take on the shops in their name but play no part in the running of the businesses – and claim to face little scrutiny, with dozens of stores to their name on Companies House.
Two Iranian men aged 32 and 28 were arrested have been arrested after multiple addresses in Birmingham and the West Midlands were raided by immigration officers
A third man, described as a naturalised British citizen aged 43 by the Home Office, was also arrested
The three men are being held on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry to the UK and facilitating illegal working
The stores are then run by asylum seekers whose names are nowhere near the business and have no right to work in the UK.
Many of them sell illegal cigarettes and vapes, including to children, seemingly without fear of being discovered.
They also employ others on pitiful wages as low as £4 an hour.
Andy Radcliffe, Assistant Director from Immigration Enforcement, is leading the probe into the allegations involving HMRC, the National Crime Agency, Companies House, police forces and Trading Standards.
Mr Radcliffe said: ‘We’re taking this very seriously…people could go to prison for this, we could take assets off them, so we’re taking it very seriously.’
The Home Office launched the investigation after it was uncovered that more than 100 businesses were linked to a Kurdish criminal network that enables migrants to work in mini-marts across the UK – despite having no legal right to employment in Britain.
One asylum seeker, who says his claim was rejected, was found to be trying to sell a mini-mart for £18,000 cash without using an accountant.
Secret camera footage also showed him telling the reporters how he could avoid paying for electricity bills – by using a trick to stop the meter from working.
The Kurdish migrant said he paid another man £250 a month to have his name on the business documents.
He told the reporters he had never paid council tax and had not registered the company.
He also admitted that he had regular customers as young as 12 buying tobacco and vapes.
The shop worker also told them how he kept the bulk of his stock in an untaxed car to conceal it from Trading Standards officers during the day.
Another man was exposed who said he had ‘customers in every city’ and could wipe illegal working fines worth up to £60,000.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood admitted that these kinds of criminal networks ‘create an incentive for people to come here illegally’.
Questioned by the BBC, last week, Ms Mahmood said: ‘What your reporters were able to scrutinise and show is absolutely evidence of why our system is broken.
‘It’s why this government has been cracking down on illegal working.’
In the Budget, Rachel Reeves announced funding for 45 new Trading Standards officers and said there would be ‘additional enforcement activity on High Streets, focusing on illicit tobacco and vaping products’.
