Kurdish Crime Gang Running Illegal UK Mini-Mart Network Exposed

 

                                                                                  Picture BBC

 

A Kurdish organised crime network is running hundreds of fake-front mini-marts across Britain, enabling asylum seekers to work illegally while selling illicit cigarettes and vapes, a BBC undercover investigation has revealed.

 

Reporters posing as Kurdish asylum seekers uncovered a nationwide system of “ghost directors” — individuals paid to put their names on company paperwork for shops they do not run, allowing undocumented migrants to operate in plain sight.

 

The network stretches from Dundee to Devon, with at least 100 mini-marts, barbers, and car washes linked to the same pattern of fraud. A financial crime investigator told the BBC the true scale was likely far larger.

 

In Crewe, a shopkeeper called Surchi offered to sell his mini-mart, Top Store, for £18,000 cash, assuring the reporters they could run it “without needing anything.” He admitted paying a man named Hadi £250 a month to register as the business owner, saying Hadi “probably has 40 to 50 shops under his name.”

 

Surchi — an asylum seeker whose claim had been refused — boasted of making £3,000 a week from illegal tobacco sales, tampering with electricity meters, and selling vapes to children as young as 12. He showed reporters a hidden “stash car” where he kept stock until after Trading Standards officers had gone home.

 

The BBC also found a Kurdish Facebook group openly listing mini-marts and barbers for sale, and builders advertising hidden compartments designed to fool sniffer dogs.

 

Asylum seekers caught in the scheme described 14-hour shifts for £4 an hour, trapped in legal limbo by slow Home Office decisions.

 

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the revelations were “deeply concerning” and vowed to investigate:

“Illegal working and linked organised criminality create an incentive for people to come here illegally. We will not stand for it.”

Critics say the scandal exposes chronic failures in border enforcement and company oversight, with Companies House used as a “laundering service” for criminal front operations.

One Kurdish reporter involved said he wanted to expose the problem “to say loudly that they don’t represent us.”

Key Takeaways

• BBC undercover probe uncovers Kurdish crime ring using fake directors to run UK mini-marts.

• Asylum seekers exploited to sell illegal vapes, cigarettes, and work off-books.

• Home Secretary launches investigation amid outrage over weak border and business controls.

 

[Source: BBC]

 

 

 

Shame they can't work legally...the treasury could be taxing them and avoid bumping up everyone's income tax

5 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

Shame they can't work legally...the treasury could be taxing them and avoid bumping up everyone's income tax

As many have arrived without documentation, do you think they have their work related qualifications and CV's?

3 minutes ago, stubuzz said:

As many have arrived without documentation, do you think they have their work related qualifications and CV's?

 

 

Not too sure Kurdish minimarts looking to pay people less than a living wage for 18 hour days really have much of an HR system going.

1 hour ago, stubuzz said:

As many have arrived without documentation, do you think they have their work related qualifications and CV's?

Have you never apprenticed or proved yourself on the job?