UK recruits hundreds of officers in £500 billion money laundering crackdown

Hundreds of new officers are to be recruited in a £500 million crackdown on money laundering, as part of the government’s Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy, to track dirty money, disrupt organised crime networks and seize criminal assets.

The 500 new officers will be deployed across police forces, the NCA and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to follow the money behind serious and organised crime, including through Russian and other international money laundering networks.

The new investigators will focus on going after the kingpins behind Britain’s dirty money trade. By blocking and seizing their money, to cut off the cash that fuels organised crime, from drug trafficking and people smuggling to the sham businesses that blight British high streets.

How the new crackdown aims to track and recover the proceeds of crime

Backed by £500 million of investment over three years from the economic crime levy, the crackdown forms part of the new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy, which sets out how the UK will make it harder for criminals to hide, move or profit from crime.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “We are putting 500 more officers on the trail of dirty money, going after the criminal bosses behind organised crime and stripping them of the funds they use to fuel drug trafficking, people smuggling and other serious crime. By going after the profits of Britain’s biggest gangs, we will break their grip on our communities, put the money back in victims’ pockets and ensure crime does not pay.”

It comes alongside new figures showing that almost £350 million of dirty money was stripped from criminals and over £1 billion denied in a year long crackdown on dirty money. Twenty six million pounds was returned into the pockets of victims, 2,700 illicit finance operations disrupted and convictions for money laundering have increased to almost 4,000.

Why depriving criminals of their assets bolsters law enforcement

A significant portion of money recovered from criminals will be directed towards public services and law enforcement, ensuring that the proceeds of crime are put to work protecting the public.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: “The fight against organised crime does not stop at arresting offenders. We must also go after the dirty money that fuels their operations by strengthening our ability to trace, seize and recover criminal assets. Every pound taken out of criminal hands weakens organised crime, helps deliver justice for victims and makes our communities safer.”

Almost £1 million was stripped from people smugglers and immigration offenders throughout the past year, depriving criminal gangs of the funds they use to facilitate crossings as part of a wider crackdown on illegal migration.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby KC MP said: “Dirty money doesn’t just fund unlawful activity, it undermines the integrity of our financial system and allows criminals to profit from the misery they cause. That’s why we’re investing over £500 million to put more officers on the trail of illicit funds, including international money laundering networks. This crackdown will make Britain a harder place for criminals to launder money and ensures that when we recover criminals’ assets, that funding will go to further bolstering law enforcement.”

Building a modern approach to combatting financial crime

This all comes as the NCA estimates more than £100 billion is laundered through the UK or UK corporate structures each year. Money laundering networks move and conceal the profits of drug trafficking, fraud, people smuggling and corruption, while also helping hostile actors and elites move illicit wealth through the international financial system. The threat has grown in recent years from the rise of fintech, crypto and AI.

Sal Melki, Deputy Director for Economic Crime at the National Crime Agency, said: “Financial crime is a corrosive threat that harms our communities and economy. It puts money in the hands of those that traffic, abuse, scam and corrupt. It undercuts legitimate business, deprives our public services and furthers the interests of nations hostile to the UK and our way of life.

“Combatting financial crime has become more complex as criminals embrace new technologies to increase the scale and harm of their offending. Our foundations are strong and now the NCA and our partners are driving a systemic shift to modernise our approach to combatting all forms of illicit finance. This strategy and the investment behind it will be key to achieving this.

“It will allow us to build an innovative financial intelligence service for the UK, deepen our public private partnerships, and – crucially – increase our operational capacity to proactively target money launderers and the financial architecture they rely on. We will pursue them across borders, seize their criminal wealth and remove them from our businesses, institutions and high streets.”

Exposing ransomware groups and money laundering networks

The officers will build on the success of the NCA’s Operation Destabilise, disrupting Russian money laundering networks operating across the UK and overseas. Through a new campaign of arrests, cash seizures and alternative methods, the NCA will disrupt and expose the money laundering networks operating on the streets of the UK and enabling hostile state malign activity, ransomware groups and the global movement of deadly class A drugs. Throughout the operation, 119 suspected money launderers were arrested and over £25 million in cash and crypto seized in less than 12 months.

Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said: “We support the ambitious actions set out in this strategy and will continue to prioritise fighting financial crime. A whole-system effort, both at home and abroad, is the only way we can crack down on organised crime and combat threats to national security and economic stability. Reforms to anti-money laundering supervision provide a golden opportunity to strengthen the supervision of professional services, ensure more consistent oversight and help us identify and disrupt crime.”

The Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy will strengthen the UK’s fight against illicit finance. It sets out how the authorities will work with the private sector and international partners to recover more criminal assets, disrupt money laundering networks and reinvest dirty cash into protecting the British public. The strategy will modernise the UK’s response to money laundering by investing in new intelligence capabilities, advanced technology and stronger public-private collaboration.

Police to work with partners to pursue illicit activities on UK high streets

Police and trading standards have been backed with additional funding and the law on closure orders is being changed to keep rogue vape and barber shops shut and criminal bosses behind bars. This all builds on the work of the High Street Organised Crime Unit, which is leading a nationwide crackdown on dodgy shops across the high street.

Graham McNulty, Director of the Serious Fraud Office, said: “Tackling the most serious and complex financial crime means relentlessly pursuing the money as well as the criminals behind it. Since April 2026 the SFO has secured £15.4 million through judicial outcomes, adding to our strong track record of stripping criminals of their illicit gains. As part of the new Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Strategy, the SFO is playing its part in strengthening international asset recovery and supporting a review of money laundering prosecutions, helping to ensure criminals cannot hide, move or profit from their crimes.”

Professor Emmeline Taylor, Professor of Criminology at City St George’s, University of London and Director of APTUS Business Crime Research Centre, said: “Following the money is essential if we are serious about disrupting organised crime. The government’s announcement of 500 new officers and £500 million of investment is significant.

“My latest report, the Legitimate High Street Framework, highlights how organised criminal networks are exploiting legitimate-looking premises to sell illicit tobacco, stolen goods and other illegal commodities. These activities form part of wider criminal economies that distort competition and displace honest businesses.

“The opportunity now is to connect local intelligence with national financial intelligence and enforcement, targeting not only criminal assets but the businesses and networks that enable organised crime. If we want a genuine High Street Renaissance, we must prevent criminal economies from taking root and driving law-abiding citizens out of business.”