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The Metropolitan Police have arrested 46 people in connection with a major criminal network accused of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China.
The investigation began last December after officers found a shipment at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport containing around 1,000 iPhones destined for Hong Kong. Almost all were confirmed to be stolen, prompting the launch of Operation Echosteep — described as the UK’s largest-ever crackdown on phone theft.
Specialist detectives uncovered several more shipments and used forensic evidence to trace two men in their 30s, who were arrested on 23 September for handling stolen goods. They have since been charged and remanded in custody. Police later discovered more stolen phones in their vehicle and 2,000 additional devices at related properties.
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin said the group deliberately targeted Apple products because of their high resale value abroad, with street thieves earning up to £300 per device, while some were sold in China for as much as $5,000 (£3,700).
Commander Andrew Featherstone, the Met’s lead officer on phone theft, called it “the largest crackdown on mobile phone theft and robbery in the UK” and urged Apple and Samsung to do more to enhance device security and prevent reuse of stolen phones.
In two weeks of coordinated raids, police arrested 46 suspects, including 11 people linked to courier van robberies during the launch of the iPhone 17, and two men arrested for money laundering after £40,000 in cash was found in a north London phone shop.
Another suspect was stopped at Heathrow on 20 September with 10 suspected stolen phones, two iPads, two laptops, and two Rolex watches. Investigators later found he had flown between London and Algeria more than 200 times in two years.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the ease with which criminals profit from stolen devices, calling on the mobile phone industry to make stolen phones unusable and urging global cooperation to stop the illegal trade.
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