The Home Office has warned it intends to step up efforts to pursue the crime gangs using high street businesses as fronts for their criminality.
GB News has been told of an 'explosion' in the number of barber shops in particular, which are now being exploited by criminals to launder money and employ illegal immigrants.
In Oxford on Wednesday, the minister for illegal immigration, Michael Tomlinson joined enforcement officers on a raid targeting a barber shop suspected of employing foreign nationals illegally.
Intelligence gathered by Immigration Enforcement officers suggested an Albanian asylum seeker, who recently absconded, was likely working at the business.
Officers storm barbershop looking for migrants
GB News
As officers raided the shop in the Cowley area of Oxford, they found no trace of the missing Albanian.
However, they did find a Colombian asylum seeker working illegally at the barbers.
He was arrested and taken away for questioning.
The Albanian owner of the business now faces the prospect of a much larger fine for employing an illegal worker.
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Immigration officers on the way to the barbershop
GB News
On Tuesday, the maximum fine for any business caught employing illegal immigrants rose from £15,000 to £45,000.
Illegal immigration minister Michael Tomlinson told GB News: "Immigration enforcement raids were up by nearly 70 per cent last year. That's a huge increase.
"And talking to the illegal enforcement team here, they've been ramping up in the West Midlands as well. You can really sense it. You can sense the work they're doing."
While the majority of high street barbers are legitimate and provide a valuable service to their local communities, authorities have monitored a huge increase in barber shops.
There are now almost 18,000 barbers across the country, a 50 per cent rise in just five years, according to the National Hair and Beauty Federation (NHBF).
The Federation confirmed that almost 1,000 new barber shops have been opened in the past year alone.
Official sources have told GB News that while most barbers are legitimate, "a significant and growing number of barbers are being used as fronts for criminality".
As well as employing illegal immigrants, some of those working in these high street shops are believed to be victims of modern slavery, coerced and threatened to work for little to no money.
Official figures indicate there are as many as 100,000 victims of modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK.
Immigration officers before raid on barbershop
GB News
Sources said growing numbers of barbers are also being used to help launder the proceeds from drug dealing and other criminal activity.
In recent years, nail bars and car washes have been the predominant businesses associated with illegal working and other criminality.
But barber shops are now rapidly overtaking them as the high street businesses most likely to be exploited by the crime gangs.
Eddy Montgomery, Director of Immigration Enforcement at the Home Office said: "There is broader organised crime behind this. These sorts of premises do not pop up overnight without money behind them.
"And it's really important that we work with agencies such as the National Crime Agency, such as policing, such as HMRC and other Government departments so that the weight of all the Government's powers is brought to bear on those who seek to exploit vulnerable individuals."
Money laundering remains a massive issue of concern for UK law enforcement.
Official estimates suggest up to £150billion worth of dirty money is laundered through the UK each year.
Much of that money comes from overseas, from the likes of Russia, and is laundered through advanced high finance schemes and the likes of cryptocurrency.
However, billions of pounds of criminal proceeds in the UK are also laundered through high street businesses.
According to sources, the criminal gangs exploiting barber shops tend to be Albanian, Turkish and Kurdish groups in particular.
There is growing concern within the hair care sector that many barber shops are increasingly becoming fronts for crime gangs.
Authorities are keen to reiterate that the vast majority of barber shop businesses are legitimate and hard-working.
But they warn Immigration Enforcement teams will not hesitate to go after those they suspect of breaking the law.
