Police say they have broken up an international criminal network responsible for smuggling tens of thousands of stolen mobile phones from the UK to China in what is being described as the country’s largest ever operation against phone theft.
Eighteen suspects have been arrested and more than 2,000 stolen devices recovered following coordinated dawn raids on 28 properties in London and Hertfordshire. Detectives believe the gang was behind the export of up to 40,000 stolen phones in the past year, potentially half of all handsets stolen in London.
The investigation began when a theft victim tracked their iPhone to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport, where officers found it among nearly 900 other stolen devices packed for export to Hong Kong.
Two Afghan nationals in their 30s have been charged with conspiring to receive stolen goods and remove criminal property, alongside a third suspect, a 29-year-old Indian national. Police say the men were part of a sophisticated smuggling operation that wrapped stolen phones in foil to evade detection.
A further 15 people, mostly women, were arrested last week on suspicion of theft and handling stolen goods.
Commander Andrew Featherstone said the operation had “dismantled criminal networks from street-level thieves to international smugglers exporting tens of thousands of stolen devices each year.”
Phone thefts in London have nearly tripled in four years, rising from 28,609 in 2020 to 80,588 in 2024. The Met says many street criminals are now turning from drug dealing to phone theft, driven by soaring overseas demand for second-hand Apple devices, which can sell in China for as much as £4,000.
Policing Minister Sarah Jones said the crackdown showed “how organised and profitable the phone trade has become,” warning that criminals were exploiting new markets faster than law enforcement could adapt.
