UK police have uncovered a massive international network that smuggled 40,000 stolen phones from London to China. The investigation was spurred after one iPhone theft victim used Apple’s Find My iPhone feature to tracked their missing device straight to the sources, reported WCCF Tech.
On Christmas Eve, an iPhone user in London tracked their stolen iPhone to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. He contacted police, who raided the building, finding hundreds of other stolen iPhones that were packed and ready to be shipped to Hong Kong. That single stolen device ultimately lead to the uncovering of one of the largest mobile theft rings in the history of the UK.
Metropolitan Police say the gang exported around 40,000 stolen phones in a single year-long period, accounting for close to half of all the mobile thefts in London. Police officers conducted coordinated raids across the capital and Hertfordshire, recovered over 2,000 devices, while arresting 18 suspects, including two Afghan nationals and one Indian national. All of the arrested individuals were charged with conspiring to receive and conceal stolen goods.
Police say the scheme was run like a global business. The bad actors paid street thieves in London up to £300 per device, with the same iPhones fetching as much as £4,000 each in China, where they are prized by users for their ability to bypass local censorship restrictions. The profits were so lucrative that many thieves have ceased dealing drugs in favor of heisting iPhones.
During the past four years, phone thefts in London have tripled to more than 80,000 cases annually. Metropolitan Police say that thefts are already down by 14 percent this year as a result of stronger enforcement.
(Image credit: BBC)