An investigation has uncovered a Kurdish organized criminal network facilitating asylum seekers to operate illegal mini-marts across the United Kingdom, generating profits through black-market cigarettes and vapes, including sales to children. The scheme involves “ghost directors” who register businesses under false names while avoiding involvement in their operations.
Undercover reporters posing as asylum seekers revealed how easily individuals could acquire and manage these outlets, with some stores earning up to £3,000 weekly from illicit tobacco. Over 100 mini-marts, barbershops, and car washes were linked to the network, spanning locations from Dundee in Scotland to south Devon. Ghost directors, such as Hadi Ahmad Ali and Ismaeel Ahmedi Farzanda, reportedly charge £250–£300 monthly to lend their names to paperwork for multiple businesses.
The operation includes tactics to evade detection, such as shutting down companies after a year and reopening them with adjusted details. Asylum seekers were found selling entire shops for £18,000 in cash and using concealed devices like button-activated loft dispensers to hide contraband. One shop owner, Surchi—a Kurdish asylum seeker from Iraq—admitted to selling vapes to children and using a device to steal electricity.
Zia Yusuf of Nigel Farage’s Reform Party condemned the findings, calling it “scandalous” that illegal immigrants exploit high streets for organized crime while the government remains inactive. The Home Office has pledged to investigate the scheme.
