Undercover journalists posing as asylum seekers were told how easy it was to take over a shop and make thousands of pounds a week from illegal tobacco.
The Home Office said it would investigate the BBC’s findings.
The NCA led the month-long crackdown – which saw 2,734 High Street premises visited and over £10.7m criminal proceeds seized, including millions of illegal tobacco and vapes, over half a million pounds in cash and 70kg of cannabis.
The illicit tobacco alone equates to more than £3.5m worth of duty evaded, the NCA estimates.
Over 450 registered businesses have been referred to Companies House for further investigation.
“Thousands of officers have been deployed up and down our country, targeting criminal profits and the means of generating them,” Rachael Herbert, director of the national economic crime centre at the NCA, said.
“Hundreds of thousands of harmful and illegal products have been taken off our streets, and over £10m in cash, frozen in bank accounts and criminal assets seized.”
