Three men have been jailed for a combined 25 years for running the UK’s biggest stolen mobile phone smuggling network, trafficking up to 40,000 stolen handsets from Britain to China.
Amir Muhammad Khadikhel, Ismat Miakhel and Mansoor Mohammed were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty in April to conspiracy and organised crime offences. Detectives believe the phones they trafficked during 2024 and 2025 account for around 40 per cent of all mobiles stolen in London over that period.
How Operation Echosteep smashed the network
The year-long investigation, codenamed Operation Echosteep, began in December 2024 when officers found a box of around 1,000 iPhones being shipped to Hong Kong at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. Almost every handset inside had been stolen.
Specialist detectives — who would ordinarily investigate armed robberies and drug smuggling — were brought in to track down the gang. They intercepted further shipments and used forensic evidence recovered from the packaging to identify those involved.
On 23 September last year, officers arrested Khadikhel and Miakhel in north-east London on suspicion of handling stolen goods. Both were subsequently charged and remanded in custody. Several hundred phones were recovered from their car, while a further 2,000 devices were seized from properties linked to the men.
Mohammed was later identified as being involved in the handling and supply of stolen devices, and was arrested and charged.
The sentences
Khadikhel, 35, of Eastway, Wanstead, was jailed for nine and a half years after being convicted of conspiracy to receive stolen mobile phones, conspiracy to transfer or export stolen mobile phones, and participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
Miakhel, 33, of The Drive, Walthamstow, was sentenced to nine years for the same three offences.
Mohammed, 30, of High Road, Wood Green, received six and a half years after being convicted of conspiracy to receive stolen mobile phones and participating in the activities of an organised crime group.
“We’ll come after you”
Commander Andy Featherstone, the Met’s lead for tackling mobile phone theft, said: “Today’s sentences send a clear message: if you steal phones, we’ll come after you.”
“This result is down to the relentless work of our officers, who painstakingly pieced together the evidence, tracked this criminal gang’s activity and built the case that has brought these men to justice,” he said.
“We’ve already cut phone theft by a fifth this year, meaning thousands fewer victims. London is becoming even safer, but we’re not slowing down. We’ll keep targeting the thieves, handlers and exporters driving this crime.”
The case forms part of the Met’s largest-ever operation targeting mobile phone theft, which exposed a supply chain stretching from street thieves in London to international handlers and exporters.
Phone theft falling across London
The Met says tackling phone theft and robbery remains one of its top priorities, with offences down by a fifth across the capital this year — the equivalent of more than 9,000 fewer victims. In Westminster, one of London’s busiest tourist hotspots, offences have fallen by almost 50 per cent.
Officers are using data-led intelligence and cutting-edge technology, including drones, high-powered e-bikes, live facial recognition and specialist teams, to target hotspots where phone thieves operate.
The convictions are the latest in a series of Met successes against organised acquisitive crime. Masked raiders from Lewisham were jailed over a £13,000 phone shop heist in Woking, and officers arrested two people in a takedown of an AI phishing service linked to 12,000 compromised inboxes.
A man was also arrested after a school pupil was targeted in an e-bike robbery in Mottingham.
The Metropolitan Police has published its full account of the investigation on its newsroom website.
