UK police dismantle phone-theft network accused of smuggling 40,000 phones to China

LONDON -- Police in London "disrupted a major criminal network" suspected of smuggling almost 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China in the last 12 months, the Met said on Tuesday. The police statement said the group was alleged to be responsible for 40% of all stolen phones in London. "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," said Commander Andrew Featherstone, the Met’s lead for tackling phone theft. The investigation started in December of 2024, when an "unusual seizure" of about 1,000 iPhones at the Heathrow Airport, the police said. The box was found in the warehouse and was being shipped to Hong Kong. The Met were subsequently alerted. "Almost all of the ide