British police say they have smashed an international crime network that trafficked tens of thousands of stolen phones from the United Kingdom to China, in what authorities described as the country’s biggest-ever operation against mobile theft.

The Metropolitan Police announced on Tuesday that 18 suspects were arrested following months of raids across London and Hertfordshire, leading to the recovery of over 2,000 stolen devices and the disruption of a smuggling chain believed to have shipped as many as 40,000 phones abroad in a year.

Detectives said the investigation began on Christmas Eve when a theft victim traced their stolen iPhone to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. Inside, security officials found the device among 894 others boxed for shipment to Hong Kong.

“That single phone was the thread that unravelled a massive international racket,” said Detective Inspector Mark Gavin, who led the operation.

Police used forensic data from intercepted parcels to track two Afghan nationals suspected of organising exports. Both were later arrested in a dramatic roadside interception, with dozens of phones wrapped in foil found in their car.

A third suspect, an Indian national, has also been charged with conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

Investigators believe the group was responsible for exporting nearly half of all phones stolen in London, where thefts have tripled in four years to over 80,000 cases in 2024.

“This is the largest crackdown on mobile phone theft in British history,” said Commander Andrew Featherstone, the Met’s head of phone crime.

“We have dismantled networks from street thieves to transnational groups moving tens of thousands of devices each year.”

Authorities say the gang focused on Apple products, fetching up to £4,000 per device in China’s black market, where unlocked smartphones are used to bypass internet restrictions.

Policing Minister Sarah Jones described phone theft as a lucrative new frontier for organised crime, noting reports of drug dealers shifting into the trade.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged phone manufacturers to “design out” the crime by making stolen handsets permanently unusable.

The Metropolitan Police says it has since deployed more officers to tourist hotspots and launched digital awareness drives on TikTok, hoping that one iPhone’s signal could mark a turning point in Britain’s battle against phone theft.