Met Busts Network Suspected of Smuggling 40,000 Phones

The Metropolitan Police say they have dismantled an international organised-crime network suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen UK mobile phones to China and Hong Kong over the past year. The probe was triggered when a victim tracked a stolen iPhone to a depot near Heathrow; officers intercepted packages (some labelled as batteries), uncovered about 1,000 handsets bound for Hong Kong and seized more than 2,000 devices during raids on dozens of London and Hertfordshire addresses. At least 18 people have been arrested — including two Afghan nationals nicknamed “Seagull” and “Heron” who have been charged — in coordinated early-morning warrants involving hundreds of officers. Police say the network bought phones taken by street-level thieves (often on e-bikes), used methods such as wrapping devices in foil to defeat tracking, and sold them overseas for millions of pounds. Commanders described the operation as dismantling a criminal supply chain from street snatchers to international exporters, and investigators said prosecutions and further inquiries into the scale of the thefts are continuing.