32 Portsmouth shops suspected of links to organised crime, FOI figures reveal

“We will find them, we will raid them.” A councillor has issued a warning after figures revealed 32 shops in Portsmouth have been suspected of organised crime links.

The figures were revealed by Portsmouth City Council, amid growing concerns that high streets across the UK are being used as fronts for organised crime.

Portsmouth Trading Standards acts on behalf of the city council as the local consumer protection and regulatory service.

It investigates rogue traders, doorstep crime, scams, consumer rights issues, counterfeit products and compliance with age restrictions.

A significant part of its work locally has involved inspecting or raiding convenience stores and vape shops selling counterfeit tobacco and vapes, with many fined or shut down.

Last year, the authority fined seven shops for selling illegal vapes and tobacco.

Local MPs have also supported the “stop dodgy shops” campaign, which targets illicit and fake shops, as well as cash-intensive businesses linked to organised crime.

Organised crime in UK retail is a growing concern, with the cost to the Government estimated at around £47bn annually.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) published a report in April this year titled ‘Hidden in Plain Sight: Tackling Crime on the UK’s High Streets’.

The report notes the declining state of the UK’s retail sector, primarily due to the growth of online shopping and the “lingering effects” of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It argues that many empty retail units are taken over by opportunistic organised crime groups to operate seemingly legitimate businesses. However, such premises may be used to launder money, sell illegal products and distribute counterfeit goods.

These groups can also engage in wider criminal activity, including modern slavery, child sexual exploitation and drug supply.

Portsmouth

Using Freedom of Information requests, the Local Democracy Reporting Service can reveal that Portsmouth Trading Standards suspected 32 shops in the city of having links to organised crime between 2022 and 2026.

During that period, there were 103 inspections or operations involving convenience stores or vape shops because of suspected links to organised crime.

There were also two incidents of intimidation towards Trading Standards staff, “both of which related to premises suspected to be linked to organised crime”.

Trading Standards has worked on Operation Machinize, led by the National Crime Agency, which resulted in 959 arrests and the seizure of more than £10.7m.

Amanda Martin, MP for Portsmouth North, said: “The government is strengthening councils’ powers to shut down criminal operators and launching a new unit to tackle organised crime on our high streets. I welcome these measures, but councils must use them.

“Our Stop Dodgy Shops campaign is already making a difference. After Stephen and I launched it, Portsmouth City Council’s seizures of illegal tobacco and vapes rocketed from £53,000 to nearly £500,000, an increase of over 800%.

“That proves what happens when we put pressure on the council to act. But there’s still more to do. Since 2024, Portsmouth has issued just three closure orders, compared with over 40 in Dudley.

“We started this campaign to clean up our high streets, and we won’t let up now. Stronger powers are welcome, but the council must use them to protect our communities, back legitimate businesses and drive criminal operators out.”

Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, added: “The government is taking decisive action to tackle illicit trade and protect our high streets. By extending Closure Orders to up to 12 months and launching the High Streets Organised Crime Unit, we’re giving councils stronger tools to disrupt criminal operators and tackle the problem at its source.

“I welcome these measures, but powers are only effective if councils use them. Portsmouth residents deserve high streets where legitimate businesses can thrive, communities feel safe, and criminal activity has no place. Portsmouth City Council must step up, use these powers to their full potential, and deliver the action our communities deserve.”

Councillor Lee Hunt, cabinet member for community safety said: “It’s quite widely known that this goes on and as a result of that we’ve been very strong and determined to detect these places and where the evidence is there, go in and shut them down.

He said the best thing the government can do is “bring back that planning control because you can open up a shop without planning permission – that’s why they’re opening everywhere.

“It used to be that the council or the local planning authority could control these sorts of premises through the planning system that was taken away and it only ever gets worse.

“We will continue and anybody who carries on in this way, we will find them, we will raid them and we will prosecute them if needs be.”

National picture

The CTSI report included findings from a 2025 survey of Trading Standards professionals. Some 96 per cent said they had encountered either serious or organised crime groups.

A further 97 per cent were aware of suspected organised crime groups operating on local high streets.

The report noted that almost all respondents (99 per cent) had seen an increase in cash-intensive businesses opening on local high streets since 2020.

In some areas, as many as half of mini-marts, convenience stores and vape retailers have illicit links to organised crime groups, alongside up to a third of American candy stores and one in four fast-food takeaways.

The CTSI said “dodgy shops” have a “profound impact” on public safety and the viability of neighbouring legitimate businesses.

Their illegal trade “puts the health of consumers at risk”, including children, and they can undercut legitimate businesses by selling cheap, counterfeit goods.