Police in UK's largest phone theft crackdown as major criminal network targeted

An international crime gang suspected to be masterminding the snatch and grab thefts of thousands of mobile phones in Britain has been smashed. Police believe their year-long operation has disrupted a major criminal network suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China over the past 12 months - around 40% of all phones stolen in London. A further 15 people have been arrested in relation to street-level offending that feeds the gangs, such as robberies and pickpocketing. Gangs who storm shops to steal devices have also been targeted in the trade that is worth over £50million annually to crooks.

By tackling offenders at "all levels", the Met says it has significantly disrupted the stolen phone market. Earlier this year, safety lines were painted on Oxford Street to warn pedestrians of the risk of scooter-riding robbers grabbing phones. Commander Andrew Featherstone, the Met's lead for tackling phone theft, said: "This is the largest crackdown on mobile phone theft and robbery in the UK in the most extraordinary set of operations of this kind that the Met has ever undertaken.

"We've dismantled criminal networks at every level, from street-level thieves to international organised crime groups exporting tens of thousands of stolen devices each year. Londoners deserve to feel safe, and this is a clear sign of the Met's commitment to protecting them and driving down crime.

"We've shown how serious we are about tackling this issue, but we need more help from the industry."

Cmdr Featherstone demanded phone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung, "do more" to support police and protect their customers - believing the companies must increase phone security and make re-use of stolen devices harder.

The arrests are as a result of an investigation which started last December, when a box containing around a thousand iPhones being shipped to Hong Kong was found at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport.

Officers discovered almost all of the phones had been stolen - and this resulted in the launch of Operation Echosteep.

Specialist detectives - who would ordinarily investigate armed robberies and drug smuggling - were brought in to track down the suspects.

They intercepted further shipments and used forensics found on the packages to identify two men. Detectives carried out further enquiries over the following months as more packages were sent out of the country.

On September 23, two men in their 30s were arrested in north-east London on suspicion of handling stolen goods. They have now been charged and remanded in custody.

A number of phones were found in their car - and around 2,000 more devices were found at properties linked to the suspects.

As a result of their enquiries, officers also uncovered details of some of the street-level offenders involved in thefts and robberies. Over the past week, officers have made a further 15 arrests on suspicion of theft, handling stolen goods and conspiracy to steal.

More than 30 suspected devices were also found during searches at 28 properties across London and Hertfordshire.

Det Insp Mark Gavin, the senior investigating officer for Operation Echosteep, said: "Finding the original shipment of phones was the starting point for an investigation which uncovered an international smuggling gang which we believe could have been responsible for exporting up to 40 per cent of all the phones stolen in London.

"Behind every one of those phones is a victim. People keep their lives on their phones, and it can be heartbreaking when they're stolen. We heard from people who had lost photos of deceased relatives and others who were violently assaulted during robberies.

"This group specifically targeted Apple products because of their profitability overseas. We discovered street thieves were being paid up to £300 per handset and uncovered evidence of devices being sold for up to $5,000 in China."

Cities around the world face a surge in mobile phone theft. Around 80,000 devices were stolen in London last year and the force is responding with targeted enforcement - while going after the organised criminal gangs targeting victims and exporting tens of thousands of stolen devices overseas.

These efforts have led to significant arrests, recovery of stolen devices, and disruption of international trafficking routes. Personal robbery has been reduced by 13% and theft is down 14% in London so far this year.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: "I want to thank the Met on responding to Londoners' concerns leading to their biggest ever coordinated campaign to tackle mobile phone crime. This is, without doubt, the largest operation of its kind in UK history, and it was humbling to see first-hand how the Met are going after the leaders of international smuggling gangs as well as the street robbers and snatchers fuelling this industrial scale crime.

"Thanks to our record funding, the Met are boosting visible neighbourhood policing across London and deploying specialist operations in hotspot areas like Westminster and the West End, where nearly 40 per cent of phone thefts occur. This crackdown has already led to hundreds of arrests and thousands of handsets seized, contributing to a 13% in theft and robbery across London in the first quarter of this year.

"But the police can't do it alone. Criminals are making millions by repurposing stolen phones and selling them abroad, with many still able to access cloud services. It's simply too easy and too profitable. I will continue to call on the mobile phone industry to go harder and faster in designing out this crime by making stolen devices unusable. We need coordinated global action to shut down this trade and build a safer London for everyone."

Crime and Policing Minister, Sarah Jones, said: "The unprecedented scale of this operation sends a clear message: if you're involved in phone theft, be it on the streets, behind shop counters, or part of an organised crime gang, we're coming after you.

"I want to see more of these large-scale interventions, which is why we're putting more police on the streets and arming them with stronger powers to track down the criminals responsible and make our streets safer."