Overview

• Two suspected ringleaders nicknamed “Heron” and “Seagull” were arrested and charged after officers found several stolen phones in their car and about 2,000 more at linked properties.
• Officers say the network concealed shipments by mislabelling boxes as batteries and wrapping devices in foil, with an initial haul of about 1,000 iPhones bound for Hong Kong recovered near Heathrow.
• A two-week enforcement push tied to the case led to 46 arrests across London, including suspects accused of robbing vans carrying new iPhone 17 handsets and others detained on money laundering and handling offences.
• Investigators cited strong profit incentives, with street thieves paid up to £300 per iPhone and resales reported at up to $5,000 in China, and linked one suspect to more than 200 trips between London and Algeria in two years.
• Senior officials praised the crackdown but urged manufacturers to deploy global disabling measures to make stolen phones unusable and called for coordinated international action to choke off export markets.