Criminal network behind UK mini-marts enables migrants to work illegally, BBC finds | BBC News

A Kurdish crime network is enabling migrants to work illegally in mini-marts on High Streets the length of Britain, a BBC investigation has revealed.

The fake company directors are paid to put their names to official paperwork, and have dozens of businesses listed on Companies House, but are not involved in running them.

Two undercover reporters, themselves Kurdish, posed as asylum seekers and were told how easy it would be for them to take over and run a shop and make big profits selling illegal vapes and cigarettes.

The BBC has linked more than 100 mini-marts, barbershops and car washes, operating from Dundee to south Devon, to the crime network.

But a financial crime investigator told the BBC he believes it goes much wider.

The Home Office said it will investigate the BBC's findings.

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Post from BBC News on November 05, 2025

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