British police say they’ve broken up what could be the biggest cell phone theft operation in the country’s history, a network accused of stealing and exporting as many as 40,000 devices from the UK to China over the last year.
Eighteen suspects have been arrested and more than 2,000 stolen phones recovered after raids on nearly 30 locations across London and Hertfordshire. Investigators believe the group was behind as much as half of all stolen phones in the capital, per the BBC.
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin said the investigation began last Christmas Eve when a theft victim tracked their missing iPhone to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. “The security there was eager to help out and they found the phone was in a box, among another 894 phones,” he explained.
Those devices were bound for Hong Kong. That discovery led police to trace further shipments and, through forensics, identify two suspects. Bodycam video later captured officers stopping their car in the middle of the road — some with Tasers drawn — and finding phones wrapped in foil, apparently to block detection.
The two men, both Afghan nationals in their 30s, have been charged with conspiring to receive stolen goods and conceal criminal property. A third man, a 29-year-old from India, faces the same charges. “Finding that first shipment of phones was the starting point for uncovering an international smuggling gang,” Gavin said.
The Met’s investigation has since led to 15 more arrests, mostly women, including one Bulgarian national. Roughly 30 stolen phones were seized in those early-morning raids.
Police say the stolen devices were sold for big profits abroad. Street thieves in London were reportedly paid up to £300 per phone, while the same devices fetched thousands overseas — up to £4,000 in China, where internet-enabled iPhones are especially sought after.
“This is the largest crackdown on mobile phone theft the UK has ever seen,” said Commander Andrew Featherstone to the BBC, who leads the Met’s anti-robbery unit. “We’ve dismantled networks from street-level offenders to the international groups moving tens of thousands of stolen phones every year.”
Phone theft has exploded in London, tripling since 2020 to more than 80,000 incidents in 2024. Thefts from individuals across England and Wales are also up 15 percent, according to national data. Police say the rise in second-hand phone demand is driving the surge—and that some criminals have even switched from drug dealing to the phone trade because it’s more profitable.
The Met says it’s adding 80 more officers to the West End and other hotspots, even as it faces budget cuts and a shortfall of nearly £260 million.
Eighteen suspects have been arrested and more than 2,000 stolen phones recovered after raids on nearly 30 locations across London and Hertfordshire. Investigators believe the group was behind as much as half of all stolen phones in the capital, per the BBC.
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin said the investigation began last Christmas Eve when a theft victim tracked their missing iPhone to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. “The security there was eager to help out and they found the phone was in a box, among another 894 phones,” he explained.
Those devices were bound for Hong Kong. That discovery led police to trace further shipments and, through forensics, identify two suspects. Bodycam video later captured officers stopping their car in the middle of the road — some with Tasers drawn — and finding phones wrapped in foil, apparently to block detection.
The two men, both Afghan nationals in their 30s, have been charged with conspiring to receive stolen goods and conceal criminal property. A third man, a 29-year-old from India, faces the same charges. “Finding that first shipment of phones was the starting point for uncovering an international smuggling gang,” Gavin said.
The Met’s investigation has since led to 15 more arrests, mostly women, including one Bulgarian national. Roughly 30 stolen phones were seized in those early-morning raids.
Police say the stolen devices were sold for big profits abroad. Street thieves in London were reportedly paid up to £300 per phone, while the same devices fetched thousands overseas — up to £4,000 in China, where internet-enabled iPhones are especially sought after.
“This is the largest crackdown on mobile phone theft the UK has ever seen,” said Commander Andrew Featherstone to the BBC, who leads the Met’s anti-robbery unit. “We’ve dismantled networks from street-level offenders to the international groups moving tens of thousands of stolen phones every year.”
Phone theft has exploded in London, tripling since 2020 to more than 80,000 incidents in 2024. Thefts from individuals across England and Wales are also up 15 percent, according to national data. Police say the rise in second-hand phone demand is driving the surge—and that some criminals have even switched from drug dealing to the phone trade because it’s more profitable.
The Met says it’s adding 80 more officers to the West End and other hotspots, even as it faces budget cuts and a shortfall of nearly £260 million.
