06 February 2025 , 07:30
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The Metropolitan Police described the reselling of stolen phones abroad and in the UK as a £50million-a-year trade.
The Met Police has stepped up its efforts to clamp down on phone thieves, seizing 1,000 stolen mobiles and arresting 230 people in one week.
During a week of co-ordinated action across London, the capital’s police force specifically targeted phone thieves.
This included action in hot spot areas, such as the West End and Westminster where nearly 40% of thefts occur, it said.
The Met Police described it as a £50m-a-year trade that saw stolen phones resold abroad and in the UK.
Later on Thursday, the Home Secretary will chair a summit with law enforcement bodies to focus on tackling smartphone thefts.
One of the issues the Met Police wants to raise is with tech companies improving security on devices so stolen phones cannot be easily resold.
Increased patrols in Westminster saw 17 arrests for robbery and theft, following 42 stop and searches.
In Hackney and Haringey, officers made 15 arrests connected to the operation, including a 15-year-old boy on an illegal electric bike who was found with a large knife and £1,000 cash.
Other operations included arresting two e-bike thieves, who were later sentenced to a combined five years, for phone thefts.
Alongside that, they executed a warrant at a second-hand phone shop where they suspected stolen mobiles were.
Commander Owain Richards, who is leading the Met’s response to phone thefts, said: "We are seeing phone thefts on an industrial scale, fuelled by criminals making millions by being able to easily sell on stolen devices either here or abroad.
"By intensifying our efforts we’re catching more perpetrators and protecting people from having their phone stolen in the capital.
"But we need help from partners and industry to do more.
"That is why we’re working with other agencies and government to tackle the organised criminality driving this trade and calling on tech companies to make stolen phones unusable."
Kaya Comer-Schwartz, London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, said personal robbery was down 13% on the same period last year.