Officers said organised crime gangs can use the stores as a front to launder their proceeds.
The judge said the cash-smuggling gang 'revelled in spending obscene amounts of money'.
Paul Chowles from Bristol took cryptocurrency seized in an investigation into a dark website.
Five men are sentenced over a network bringing Vietnamese migrants to the UK.
But other factors, including developments in the Middle East, may also be playing a role.
Hundreds of Britons have been detained in Thailand on suspicion of attempting to smuggle cannabis to the UK.
All five accused are remanded in custody ahead of a trial.
The 62-year-old was 15 minutes away from making it work, the National Crime Agency says.
The Reform leaders claim the National Crime Agency supplied details about party donations to the media.
