Police busts gang suspected of stealing 40,000 phones

An international gang suspected of bringing up to 40,000 stolen phones from the United Kingdom to China in the past 12 months has been dismantled by police in London. The criminal network would be responsible for 40% of all the phones stolen in the city during this period, according to the Metropolitan Police Service, which described repression as “the largest operation ever carried out to combat telephone flight in London”.

BBC News Strengthening that the survey was launched last year after a victim drew his stolen iPhone in a warehouse near Heathrow airport, which was discovered in a box containing approximately a thousand iphones sent to Hong Kong. The intercepted shipment has led to “important arrests” and to the recovery of stolen aircraft, according to the police announcement, with a 14% phone flight in London so far this year.

“This group has specifically targeted Apple products because of their profitability abroad,” said inspector-detective Mark Gavin in a statement. “We discovered that street thieves were paid up to £ 300 (around $ 403) per handset and evidence of devices sold up to $ 5,000 in China.”