Vape shops and candy stores form ‘corridors of crime’ on UK high streets

To no one’s surprise, up to half of convenience stores and vape shops are involved in organised crime in some areas.

They have plagued UK high streets for years, as the local bakery is forced to shutter and an e-cig store takes its place – despite four others sitting just a five minute walk away.

It all forms part of the £90 billion laundered a year, according to Napier AI.

‘It’s a lot easier to hide in plain sight,’Dr Janet Bastiman, Chief Data Scientist said. ‘They put the criminal money through their business to make it look legitimate, and once it does they spend it on luxury things like flashy cars and even yachts.

‘And the money again goes back into funding criminal activity.’

When Trading Standards investigates further, three-quarters of officers say they have been threatened with violence, something Metro saw first-hand during a knife purchase test.

‘Corridors of crime’

Some areas in the UK are more affected than others, with various corridors running between the cities, according to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Anti-Counterfeiting Group’s joint report, ‘Hidden in plain sight: tackling crime on the UK’s high streets’.

In the northern corridor, Manchester, Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds and Sheffield.

Down south, another stretches across coastal towns including Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex.

Retail abuse and modern slavery

The problem however, is not limited to just money laundering and funding criminal lifestyles.

In exclusive data to Metro, there were 8 cases of modern slavery within London’s retail sector with 13 victims between 2020 and 2024.

And there were 17 reported cases with 31 potential victims of labour abuse, according to modern slavery charity Unseen.

Dr Bastiman said: ‘They taget vulnerable people, entrapping them into a ‘debt’ they need to repay or offering them a lot of money before taking away their passport.

‘People forget that money laundering is more than just that. It predicates much more serious crimes.’

Why do criminals choose vape shops?

So why is it the same types of shops that are used for money laundering?

Dr Bastiman said: ‘Vape shops are easy because you can bulk import and only the nicotine is taxed.’

And vape use is on the rise, and opportunistic criminals know when to jump on the bandwagon.

This ease is not limited to vape shops either. Barbers, candy stores, car washes and nail salons are all low cost to run and offer services just cheap and frequent enough to embezzle funds.

How to spot these ‘dodgy’ shops

Turns out there are a few signs in these shops which hint at criminal activity.

If there is low footfall and a ‘broken’ card machines which forces you to pay with cash and it’s never the same person working, it

Dr Bastiman said: ‘The biggest one for me is when a business pops up very quickly, and then just doesn’t seem to have the customers.

‘Or when they are like the fifth vape shop to pop up along the same high street.’

Investigators also hone in on the transactions to spot any patterns of criminal behaviour.

John Herriman, chief executive of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), said: ‘It is clear from this research that serious and organised crime is endemic across the UK, and the threat posed by illegitimate high street businesses is having a significant impact on the work of Trading Standards, and our ability to protect consumers and maintain the level playing field for legitimate business.

‘We recognise that the Government is focussed on this issue, but it must urgently bring together and properly invest in enforcement agencies – including Local Authority Trading Standards – to give us the powers and resources needed to tackle what is a widespread and growing national problem.’

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