UK police bust gang behind ‘smuggling of 40,000 stolen phones to China’

The United Kingdom (UK) Metropolitan Police says it has dismantled an international smuggling gang suspected to have smuggled up to 40,000 stolen phones from the country to China in the past one year.

According to the Met police, the raid led to the seizure of “thousands of stolen devices in the largest ever operation” to tackle phone theft in London.

In a statement released by the Met police, the investigation began after a box containing about a thousand iPhones bound for Hong Kong was discovered at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport in December 2024.

Officers had discovered that almost all of the phones were stolen, which led to the operation codenamed “Operation Echosteep”.

The UK police said it has arrested over 18 suspects with over 2,000 stolen phones discovered in recent weeks.

Speaking about the operation, Andrew Featherstone, the Met police lead for tackling phone theft, said the operation is the “largest crackdown on mobile phone theft and robbery in the UK in the most extraordinary set”.

Featherstone said the police have dismantled criminal networks from street-level thieves to international organised crime groups exporting tens of thousands of stolen devices annually.

“Londoners deserve to feel safe, and this is a clear sign of the Met’s commitment to protecting them and driving down crime,” Featherstone said.

“We’ve shown how serious we are about tackling this issue, but we need more help from the industry.

“We’re calling on phone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung to do more to support us and protect their customers — especially around phone security and re-use.”

Also speaking, Mark Gavin, the senior investigating officer for Operation Echosteep, said the gang “specifically targeted Apple products because of their profitability overseas”.

Gavin disclosed that street thieves were being paid over £300 per handset and that evidence suggests that the stolen phones were sold for over $5,000 in China.

“Behind every one of those phones is a victim. People keep their lives on their phones, and it can be heartbreaking when they’re stolen,” Gavin said.

“We heard from people who had lost photos of deceased relatives and others who were violently assaulted during robberies.”