Phone snatching network behind one in four thefts in London targeted in police crackdown
Dozens arrested as police crack down on phone snatchers
- An organised crime gang, suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China in the past year, has been targeted by the Metropolitan Police in their largest ever operation against phone theft.
- The year-long investigation led to the arrest and remand of two suspected ringleaders after officers intercepted a shipment of 1,000 iPhones, wrongly marked as batteries, destined for Hong Kong from Heathrow.
- Met Police made 46 arrests and executed 49 search warrants across London, dismantling criminal networks from street-level thieves to international organised crime groups.
- Police estimate thieves can earn up to £300 per stolen iPhone, with devices reselling for up to $5,000 in China and Hong Kong.
- Commander Andrew Featherstone and Mayor Sadiq Khan have called on phone manufacturers to implement technology that would remotely disable stolen devices, making them unusable and disincentivising theft.