According to police, an international gang believed to have smuggled up to 40,000 stolen mobile phones from the UK to China over the past year has been dismantled.
According to the Metropolitan Police, 18 individuals have been arrested and over 2,000 stolen devices uncovered in what is described as the UK's largest operation against phone thefts.
Police suspect that the gang may be responsible for exporting up to 50% of all phones stolen in London, which accounts for the majority of mobile thefts in the UK.
BBC News has been granted access to the operation, which includes information about the suspects, their methods, and dawn raids conducted on 28 properties in London and Hertfordshire.
The investigation was launched when a victim tracked down their stolen phone last year.
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin stated, "On Christmas Eve, a victim tracked their stolen iPhone electronically to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport."
The security team was eager to assist and discovered that the phone was in a box along with 894 other phones.
Officers found that nearly all the phones had been stolen and were being sent to Hong Kong. Subsequent shipments were intercepted, and forensic analysis on the packages led officers to identify two men involved in the scheme.
As the investigation focused on the two men, police bodycam footage showed officers—some with Tasers ready—conducting a dramatic interception of a car in the middle of the road. Inside, they discovered devices wrapped in foil, which was an attempt by the offenders to secretly transport stolen items.
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