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An international network suspected of smuggling thousands of theft Phones Police has been interrupted by police from Britain.
The Metropolitan police said that this is the biggest operation to deal with phone theft in London.
The criminal organization is believed to have smuggled 40,000 stolen phones from China from China in the last 12 months – about 40 percent of all the phones stolen in the capital, on Monday, Met said.
The force launched Operation Ecostrap in December 2024, with about 1,000 iPhones sent to Hong Kong after a box, found in a warehouse near Heathro Airport.
Police said the officials found that almost all the phones were stolen.
He intercepted further shipments and used forensic evidence found on packages to identify the suspects.
The force said that a person was accused of handling the stolen goods on 20 September at Heathro Airport after being stopped with 10 suspected stolen phones.
The authorities also discovered two iPads, two laptops and two Rolex watches.
Police said further interrogation revealed that the same person had traveled more than 200 times between London and Algeria in two years.
In his 30s, two other people were arrested three days later on suspicion of handling stolen goods in North-East London.
Many phones were found in his car – and more than 2,000 devices were found on assets associated with suspects.
Police said he was later charged and sent to custody.
Two more people, in the 30s, were arrested on 25 September on suspicion of handling money laundering and stolen goods, when Met officials recovered about 40,000 pounds of cash at a phone shop in Seven Sisters Road, Isington, North London.
During the search, the authorities also seized several stolen equipment.
Police said that further investigation was pending for men.
Authorities made a total of 46 arrests after two weeks of operation, including 11 arrests, while police to deal with criminal gangs robbing the delivery van for the new iPhone 17.
Met said that one and 15 people were arrested in the last one week on suspicion of theft, to handle the stolen goods and handle the conspiracy, Met said.
More than 30 suspected equipment was also found during 28 properties of discoveries in London and Heartfordshire.
Mayor Sir of London Sadiq Khan Thanked the force for “responding to the concerns of the London people”, with linking dacoits and theft in London this year has fallen by 13 percent and 14 percent respectively.
“It is the largest operation of its kind in the history of Britain, without doubt, and it was humble to see for the first time to see the leaders of international smuggle gangs as well as street robbers and snatchers going after fueling the crime on this industrial scale,” said Sir Sadiq.
“Thanks to our record funding, Met is promoting visible neighborhood policing in London and deploying specialist operations in hotspot areas such as Westminster and West End, where about 40 percent of phones are stolen.
“This crack has already made hundreds of arrests and thousands of handsets have been confiscated, contributing to a 13 percent decline in theft and robbery in London in the first quarter of this year.”
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,Criminals By rebuilding the stolen phone and selling them abroad, many are still capable of reaching cloud services, ”Sir Sadiq said.
“It is just very easy and very beneficial.
“I will continue calling the mobile phone industry so that the stolen equipment was made useless and difficult to design this crime.
“We need coordinated global action to close this business and create a safe London for all.”
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin, Senior Investigating Officer of Operation Ecustep said: “Finding the original shipment of the phone was an initial point for an investigation, which highlighted an international smuggling gang, which we believe that may be responsible for exporting up to 40 percent of all the phones stolen in London.
“There is a victim behind each of those phones.
“People keep their lives on their phone, and when they are stolen, it can be heartbreaking.
“We heard from those who lost pictures of deceased relatives and others, which were violently attacked during the robbery.”
Di Gavin targeted smugglers, especially Apple products because due to their profitability abroad, the payment of street thieves was being sold £ 300 per handset and stolen equipment for $ 5,000 (£ 3,711) in China.
This comes when there has been an increase in theft of mobile phones in cities around the world, about 80,000 devices have been stolen in London last year.
Commander Andrew Federestone, Met’s lead to deal with phone theft said: “This is the biggest crack on mobile phone theft and robbery in the UK in the most extraordinary set of such operations that Mate has ever done.
“We have destroyed criminal networks at every level from road-level thieves to international organized crime groups, which export thousands of stolen equipment every year.
“The people of London are worth feeling safe, and this is a clear sign of Mate’s commitment that is to save them and reduce crime.
“We have shown how serious we are about dealing with the issue, but we need more help from the industry.
“We are calling on phone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung so that we are more specifically to support us and protect our customers.”
Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said that the operation has sent a “clear message” to the criminals involved in phone theft and smuggling, saying: “If you are involved in phone theft, it is on the streets, behind the shop counters, or part of an organized crime gang, we are coming after you.
“I want to see more of these massive interventions, which is why we are putting more police on the streets and armed them with strong powers to track responsibilities and make our roads safe.”