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Woman Tracks Stolen Phone to South London Park, Finds Cache Buried Under Tree

The discovery underscores a reported tactic of hiding stolen mobiles in green spaces to evade tracking.

Overview

  • Agiimaa Oyungerel recovered her Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra in Pepys Park after it was snatched by a cyclist outside Surrey Quays station on December 20.
  • Using Google's Find My Device, she located her handset and uncovered four additional phones—reported as iPhones—buried beneath a tree in Lewisham.
  • She notified police and delivered the recovered devices to a station herself, saying no perpetrator was detained at the scene and that she felt unsafe afterward.
  • Reports indicate phone thieves have been concealing stolen devices in places like Phoenix Garden in the West End, and the Pepys Park case suggests the tactic may be spreading.
  • Met Police figures show a record 116,656 mobile thefts in 2024, and officers previously disrupted an operation exporting stolen phones overseas.