Overview
- Raids across nearly 30 sites in London and Hertfordshire led to 18 arrests and the recovery of about 2,000 stolen phones and roughly £200,000 in cash.
- Detectives say the network exported up to 40,000 UK-stolen handsets to China, where resale is lucrative because devices can still be activated.
- The investigation was sparked by a December 2024 discovery near Heathrow of about 1,000 iPhones in boxes bound for Hong Kong, which guided further searches and suspect identification.
- Two men in their 30s and a 29-year-old were charged with conspiring to receive stolen goods and conceal criminal property as officers detailed an industrial-scale operation.
- Police describe thieves using e-bikes, face coverings and aluminum foil to snatch devices and hinder tracking, as data highlight low prosecution rates despite more than 100,000 thefts reported in a year.