UK police disrupt gang suspected of smuggling 40,000 stolen phones to China

British police said on Tuesday that they had disrupted a global criminal network suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen mobile phones from the UK to China over the past year.

The Metropolitan Police said 46 arrests had been made over the last two weeks as part of the force's largest ever operation against phone thefts.

The crackdown was launched last year after a box containing about 1,000 iPhones — most of them stolen — was found at a warehouse near London's Heathrow Airport, destined for Hong Kong.

That led police to uncover an international gang believed to have been responsible for exporting up to 40% of all the phones stolen in London, according to the authorities.

Of the arrests, 11 were made when police targeted gangs robbing courier vans that were transporting the new iPhone 17, while two men were arrested on suspicion of money laundering after £40,000 (€46,100) in cash was found at a phone shop in north London.

"We've dismantled criminal networks at every level, from street-level thieves to international organised crime groups exporting tens of thousands of stolen devices each year," said police commander Andrew Featherstone.

Around 80,000 phones were stolen in London last year, with many of them snatched in central London's tourist hot spots, according to the authorities.

Police said the gang specifically targeted iPhones because of their profitability overseas. They suggested street thieves were being paid up to £300 (€345) per stolen phone, with the devices being sold for up to $5,000 (€4,284) in China.

The UK's Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said the "unprecedented scale of this operation" had sent a clear message to criminals.

"If you're involved in phone theft, be it on the streets, behind shop counters, or part of an organised crime gang, we’re coming after you," Jones said in a statement.