UK Turkish Barber Shops: How Criminal Gangs Use Them to Launder Money

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A surge in Turkish-style barber shops across Britain has drawn the attention of law enforcement, with police uncovering a darker side to this booming industry. According to experts, criminal gangs have increasingly exploited these cash-based businesses to launder drug money, leading to a major police crackdown.

 

 

Over the past month, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has carried out multiple raids, making arrests and seizing tens of thousands of pounds in the process. Intelligence reports have linked a growing number of barber shops to money laundering and other forms of organised crime. Last year alone, over 750 new barber shops opened across the UK, adding to an already thriving industry.

 

Drugs expert Gary Carroll, who has spent over a decade in law enforcement and now provides court testimony on street drug gangs, believes criminals are simply copying a successful method. "It's a well-trodden path that one crime group will just copy another when they see something is working," he told MailOnline. He explained that while society is shifting away from cash, barber shops remain primarily cash-based businesses, making them ideal for laundering illicit funds. "They can get away with it because the fees they charge are relatively low," he said.

 

Another major factor is the lack of regulation in the barbering industry. "There's a lack of enforcement, without the one-off hygiene checks you'd get with food businesses," Carroll noted. Unlike restaurants or retail shops, barber shops do not have to register with Companies House and can operate as sole traders, making them harder to track. Many salons also rent out individual chairs to hairdressers, further complicating financial oversight.

 

 

Although many businesses advertise themselves as "Turkish" barbers, they are often run by individuals from a range of nationalities, including Kurds and Albanians. Carroll pointed to a possible link between this phenomenon and the ongoing trade in heroin trafficked from Turkey and other parts of Asia. "When we look at money laundering, there's the well-established affiliation with Turkish heroin, and the demand for that is certainly not decreasing in the UK," he explained.

 

Authorities have responded with an aggressive crackdown, working with local police forces, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and immigration enforcement officers to investigate suspect businesses. One technique used by tax inspectors involves monitoring the number of chairs in use at a salon to determine whether the reported profits match customer activity.

 

A government official told The Sunday Times that some streets feature multiple barber shops reporting high earnings, despite being mostly empty. Since 2018, the number of barber shops in the UK has increased by over 15%, reaching more than 18,000, according to retail analytics firm Green Street.

 

Traditional Turkish barbers are well known for offering stylish haircuts that often include hot towel treatments and cut-throat razor shaves. However, the NCA investigation has raised concerns that organised crime is exploiting this trade. "Intelligence linking the use of barber shops, as well as other cash-intensive businesses, to money laundering and other criminality has risen in recent years," an NCA spokesperson confirmed.

 

"In response to this threat, the NCA has co-ordinated multi-agency law enforcement action targeting barber shops where suspicious activity has been identified, and where there are possible connections to organised crime," the spokesperson added.

 

The criminal links to barber shops have been exposed in several high-profile cases. One of the first major incidents came with the arrest of people smuggler Hewa Rahimpur in 2022. Rahimpur, an Iranian Kurd who had arrived in the UK illegally and was later granted asylum, was found to be leading a network responsible for smuggling 10,000 migrants across the Channel in small boats. His gang had amassed £13 million in cash from these operations, requiring a means to launder the money. Rahimpur, who had experience as a barber, opened a salon in Camden, North London, as a front for his illicit dealings. He was eventually extradited to Belgium and sentenced to 11 years in prison for people trafficking.

 

Another case involved Afghan national Gul Wali Jabarkhel, who used his North London barber shop as a hub for a people-smuggling network. He attempted to recruit lorry drivers to transport migrants hidden in cargo. When he realised police were investigating him, he fled to Kabul in 2020. Jabarkhel was later convicted alongside three others at Kingston Crown Court for his role in what the NCA described as a "ruthless operation where human beings were little more than goods to profit from."

 

Some barber shops have even been linked to terrorism. In 2023, Tarek Namouz, the owner of Boss Crew Barbers in West London, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sending £11,000 to Syria to fund terrorism. Prosecutors revealed that Namouz had boasted to a prison visitor that he had actually transferred £25,000 to ISIS supporters to purchase weapons and explosives.

 

As law enforcement continues its crackdown, the growing number of Turkish-style barber shops in Britain is facing intense scrutiny. While many remain legitimate businesses, authorities are determined to root out those being used as fronts for criminal enterprises.

 

Based on a report by The Daily Mail  2025-04-03

 

 

[hotandsticky]

Farage highlighted this several months ago.

[JonnyF]

It's a standing joke in the UK.

 

There's about 5 of them on every high street. Always empty, with the owners driving brand new BMW's and Benz around town. 

[Gsxrnz]

Luckily we have GoGo bars in Pattaya to do the laundering, instead of Turkish barber shops. 

[sungod]

Dont expect the police to do anything, they are too busy sending 6 cops round to arrest some parents for a whats app chat.

[JonnyF]

4 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

Luckily we have GoGo bars in Pattaya to do the laundering, instead of Turkish barber shops. 

 

True.

 

Although there's a much wider range of narcotics available at the barber's shops. 

[Snackbar]

UK is a joke. 
 

Decent people treated like fools. 
 

Scumbags & grifters given everything 43

 

Starmer, Badenoch & Farage all garbage

[Surasak]

I read the other day that Chinese gangs had muscled in on this. Not surprising with all the Chinese laundries about.🤣

[quake]

Just one more facet.

of Broken Britain. 

[StayinThailand2much]

Interesting. In my home country they're using Hookah-Shisha bars for all the same reasons (esp. criminal activities, money-laundering, etc.)

[Hatari fan]

That Turkish barbershops are money laundering is common knowledge in the UK. 

The authorities must be a bit dim if they have only realised it now. 

[Chomper Higgot]

9 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

True.

 

Although there's a much wider range of narcotics available at the barber's shops. 

Really?!

 

It’s not something I’ve ever asked for when getting a haircut.

 

We live and learn. 

 

[TexasCowboy]

On 4/2/2025 at 7:31 PM, Gsxrnz said:

Luckily we have GoGo bars in Pattaya to do the laundering, instead of Turkish barber shops. 

Not sure a gogo bar is a good place to launder money.  It's more like a dryer that eats your socks.  You put in two and get back lint.

[Nick Carter icp]

On 4/3/2025 at 2:54 PM, Surasak said:

I read the other day that Chinese gangs had muscled in on this. Not surprising with all the Chinese laundries about.🤣

 

   The Chinese do finger nail painting and not hairdressers

[rickudon]

Nothing new about this, has been going on for years. Seizing all the laundered money is a nice little earner for the UK government.

 

Cannabis and Vietnamese nail bars are the same - a money laundering operation.

[JonnyF]

On 4/3/2025 at 4:57 PM, Chomper Higgot said:

Really?!

 

Yes, really.

 

On 4/3/2025 at 4:57 PM, Chomper Higgot said:

 

It’s not something I’ve ever asked for when getting a haircut.

 

Sounds like you've never been to one of these places. 

 

On 4/3/2025 at 4:57 PM, Chomper Higgot said:

 

We live and learn. 

 

 

You live, but I see absolutely no evidence of you learning. 

[MicroB]

A former RUC officer once told me that, in the UK, the counterfeit DVD industry was largely driven by the IRA as a way to launder drug money, to enable them to purchase American weapons. NORAID were preparing the seed money for the drug purchases. So American money was financing drug cartels  which were funding terrorism which were funding Colt and Browning.

 

And people post on  this forum about where to buy counterfeit Chinese vapes in  Thailand, and consider smuggling to be a victimless crime.

[Packer]

On 4/3/2025 at 7:25 AM, JonnyF said:

There's about 5 of them on every high street. Always empty, with the owners driving brand new BMW's and Benz around town. 

 

Time to also investigate dentists then!

[Packer]

On 4/3/2025 at 2:58 PM, quake said:

Just one more facet.

of Broken Britain. 

 

Almost as bad as broken sentences. 

 

Why the focus on Turkish barbers, I'm sure there are numerous local owned barbershops in Liverpool that have one chair and mirror and 750,000 documented paying customers every month.