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The UK could face a crackdown on illegal vape and phone shops. Products that fail fire safety checks, are counterfeit and breach laws protecting children are being targeted in raids in London.

Shops are being targeted by a team of about 80 people from the Labour Party government, Metropolitan police, HM Revenue and Customs, the local authority and Trading Standards.

The raids are part of Operation Machinize 2, a nationwide crackdown on high street crime, targeting cash intensive businesses in the “grey economy” that police believe are linked to money laundering.

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The National Crime Agency, the body responsible for fighting serious and organised crime, helped plan the raids of more than

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