A shadowy Kurdish crime network exploits desperate asylum seekers, funnelling them into illegal mini-mart operations across Britain's rundown high streets, evading £2.2 billion ($3.38 billion) in taxes annually via smuggled vapes and cigarettes. Undercover BBC reporters infiltrated this web on 5 November 2025, posing as migrants to expose ghost directors registering dozens of shops while owners dodge scrutiny and tamper with meters.
As migrant labour fuels this high street scourge, from Crewe to Hull, authorities scramble amid rising organised crime fears, with illicit trades undermining communities and coffers alike.
