Operation Machinize: what police found in Devon and Cornwall shops

A shop counter can hide a lot. Over the course of October, officers walked into 156 high street businesses across Devon and Cornwall to find out exactly what some of them were hiding. One of the team was a rescue dog called Rio.

The visits were part of Operation Machinize, a UK-wide crackdown on criminals using high street businesses as a front. It was the third time the operation has run across the country, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA) alongside the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

What happened in Devon and Cornwall

Devon & Cornwall Police were joined on the visits by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, fire services, Heart of the South West Trading Standards, HM Revenue and Customs and Home Office Immigration Enforcement. Officers specially trained in modern slavery also went into some of the businesses.

Across the two counties, 18 arrests were made. Two were for modern slavery, and both resulted in no further action. Arrests for handling stolen goods and illicit tobacco were dealt with through civil fines from HMRC, and an arrest for aggravated illegal entry was dealt with by Immigration Enforcement. One arrest for possession of drugs led to a charge.

Officers also seized £800 in cash and 2,960 cigarettes worth around £740. Two business closure orders are now being considered.

It wasn’t all enforcement. The police say there was positive engagement with legitimate businesses during the month, and new intelligence leads have been developed for future investigations.

Rio the tobacco detection dog

In Cornwall, Trading Standards visited seven premises and seized illegal tobacco products with help from Rio, a tobacco detection rescue dog, and her handler.

Over the border, Trading Standards in Devon seized 76,320 cigarettes (3,816 packets) and 23.05kg of hand rolling tobacco (461 pouches of 50g), with a street value of about £35,000. Two stash vehicles used to store counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco were also taken.

The national picture

Across the UK, the month of action in October 2026 added up to:

• 3,029 premises visited or raided
• 349 arrests
• £2.2m in cash seized
• £3.7m in account freezing orders
• £4.2m in duty and tax evasion identified or prevented

There were also £6.8m of criminal commodity seizures. That included £2.6m of illegal drugs, 49,295 illegal vapes, 1,645kg of illegal tobacco and 6.3 million illegal cigarettes.

Why vape shops and barbers

The NCA estimates at least £1 billion of criminal cash is laundered every year through cash-intensive high street businesses such as vape shops and barber shops. Since May 2025, Operation Machinize has raided more than 6,000 high street businesses suspected of criminality.

The first round focused on barbers and similar shops used as money laundering fronts. The second turned to the grey economy. This third round went after criminals higher up the chain, and the people being targeted are involved in more than money laundering, with drugs, immigration and human trafficking offences all in the mix.

The NCA has also set up a permanent coordination cell that uses intelligence from banks and other financial institutions.

Sal Melki, the NCA’s Deputy Director of Illicit Finance, had a message for those involved: “We know who you are, and are coming for you.”

And it no longer stops at the end of the month. Machinize now runs around the clock, 365 days a year.