US EditionPolice launch UK's largest ever crackdown on phone thefts
The Metropolitan Police arrested 46 suspects and seized thousands of devices in the UK’s largest phone theft crackdown, cutting London’s robbery rates by 13%, officials said.
- The Metropolitan Police conducted a major operation, arresting 46 individuals involved in a phone theft scheme that exported 40,000 stolen devices to China and Hong Kong each year as part of Operation Echosteep.
- The operation began after a woman tracked her stolen phone to a warehouse, leading police to discover 894 stolen devices at one location.
- Commander Andrew Featherstone stated that they dismantled criminal networks from street thieves to international gangs exporting stolen devices.
- London Mayor Sadiq Khan praised the operation as the largest of its kind in UK history, emphasizing the importance of targeting both local thieves and international criminal leaders.
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Again and again, passers-by in London smartphones are simply ripped out of their hands. Now the police are exposing a large alleged criminal network.
Associated Press News
UK police uncover gang suspected of smuggling thousands of stolen phones to China
British police say they have disrupted a criminal network suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen mobile phones to China in the past year.
People in London are often stolen smartphones, and sometimes they are just ripped out of their hands. Now, according to their own statements, the police have achieved an important investigative success.
7 October 2025: 'Major sting operation smashes UK’s biggest stolen phone gang' and other world headlines
Here are the stories that made headlines on the front pages of newspapers worldwide on Tuesday, 7 October 2025. The Daily Mail’s front page reported that a major sting operation had dismantled a gang responsible for nearly half of Britain’s stolen mobile phone exports. The Washington Post reported that the orders may leave a mark on the guard. China Daily’s front page reported that the mantle of the Moon is ‘colder’ on its far side. The New Yor…
In Operation Echosteep against a network of street thieves, London police arrested 46 people.
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