Met police disrupt suspected international smuggling ring in UK’s ‘largest’ phone theft crackdown

Police have disrupted an international network suspected of smuggling tens of thousands of stolen phones from the UK in its largest operation to tackle phone theft in London, the Metropolitan police said. The criminal organisation is believed to have smuggled up to 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China over the past 12 months – up to 40% of all phones stolen in the capital, the Met said on Monday. The force launched Operation Echosteep in December 2024 after a box containing about 1,000 iPhones being shipped to Hong…