Phone snatching network behind one in four thefts in London targeted in police crackdown
A “industrial -scale telephone grabbing network, which is thought to be behind the four thefts in London, was targeted in the biggest operation so far to address the wave of crime.
It is suspected that the gang had missed a stolen telephone from England to China last year – almost 40 percent of all the phones played in the capital.
The investigation of usually by detectives struggling with drugs and fiery weapons smuggling comes with the Metropolitan Police trying to get back its reputation as London’s phone covering Europe’s capital.
In his 30s, the two men, who were suspected of bell -fried, known as “Sign Heron” and “Subject Anthem, were arrested and detained on suspicion of stolen goods last month.
Their capture comes after the officers sent to Hong Kong at Heathrow Airport last December and revealing the sending of a thousand iPhone, which was misleaded in the transportation manifestation documents.
Almost all devices were stolen and tinfoille wrapped as a temporary Faraday bag.
A large probe known as the Echosteep operation, detectives seized more posts, and they were able to bind the packages to two men judicially.
Following his arrest, more telephones were found in their cars and 2,000 more devices were discovered in the properties affiliated with the suspects.
The investigation also revealed a network of criminals involved in theft and robberies, and the police made 15 arrests on suspicion of theft, took over the stolen goods and conspired to steal.
In total, the power made 46 arrests in two -week action in the capital to target phone thieves, including 49 search orders.
The leadership of Met’s struggle with telephone theft, commander Andrew Featherstone, said that stolen phones were scaled abroad: “This operation was targeted by these people, so that organized criminals who earn a large amount of money and involve their professions on the stolen of their mobile phones.”
Most of the targeted devices are iPhone 12 to 16 models, where thieves can have their pockets up to £ 300 per device. He believes that the police can change hands for $ 5,000 after being sent to China and Hong Kong.
“This is the most extraordinary operations in the most extraordinary operations that Met has undertaken by Met.
He continued: “Street -level thieves every year to the international organized crime groups exporting tens of thousands of stolen devices, we removed the penalty networks at all levels.”
However, by introducing the features that a stolen device can be disabled remotely and can never be reused, he called for more assistance to “deterrence önemli from telephone manufacturers.
The commander added Featherstone: uz We know that the technology is there. Because, if the Apple Store phones are stolen directly from the Apple Store, Apple has no problem in blocking these phones and never sees them again.
“So there is a software, so why they become a choice they don’t want to use. So why don’t they want to do it, a question for them.”
Echosteep Operation Senior Research Assistant Detective Inspector Mark Gavin, his team normally focused on firearms and drug imports, he said.
“But it was understood that this was not a low -level street crime, it was on an industrial scale,” he added, a victim, including many people who were strongly attacked when their phones are closed.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that the operation is the largest in the history of England, but that the police could not fight alone with theft.
“Criminals do millions of people by rearranging stolen phones and selling abroad, and many of them still access cloud services,” he added.
“Very easy and very profitable. I will continue to go more difficult and faster in designing this crime by making the mobile phone industry unusable.
“We need a coordinated global action to close this trade and create a safer London for everyone.”
“I want to see more of these large -scale interventions, so we put more police on the streets and armed them with stronger powers to make our streets safer,” we want to see more of these large -scale interventions.
