Phone smugglers jailed for 25 years for £5.5m network

Three men have received prison sentences totalling 25 years for their involvement in what the Metropolitan Police described as the UK's largest phone smuggling network. The operation, dismantled by officers, saw over 5,000 stolen mobile phones seized, with an estimated value of £5.5 million.

Court sentencing

At Southwark Crown Court, Amir Muhammad Khadikhel was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years' imprisonment. Ismat Miakhel received a nine-year sentence, and Mansoor Mohammed was given six-and-a-half years. All three pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to handling stolen goods and participating in criminal activities of an organised crime group. Khadikhel and Miakhel also admitted to conspiracy to remove stolen goods.

Investigation details

The investigation, known as Operation Echosteep, began after a victim's stolen phone was tracked to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. Inside, police discovered more than 800 devices packaged for shipment to Hong Kong. Further interceptions and forensic analysis led to the surveillance and subsequent arrest of Khadikhel and Miakhel in Waltham Forest in September 2025. At properties linked to them, approximately 2,000 more stolen phones were found. One storage location, Roshan Fruit and Nuts on Lea Bridge Road in Leyton, east London, concealed phones in a basement accessed via a trapdoor, hidden amongst goods labelled as dried produce. Cash totalling £44,665 was also recovered from this site.

Prosecutor Karen Robinson KC told the court that the men played a significant role in a sophisticated network responsible for handling over 5,000 phones. The court heard that Khadikhel arrived in the UK as an asylum seeker in 2019, while Mohammed entered the country on a visa in the same year. Khadikhel, aged 35, is from Wanstead, Miakhel, 33, is from Walthamstow, and Mohammed, 30, is from Wood Green.

Scale of the operation

Police suspect the network was involved in smuggling up to 40,000 phones between 2024 and 2025, representing a substantial portion of devices stolen in London during that period. Commander Andy Featherstone, the Metropolitan Police's lead on mobile phone theft, stated that the network recruited street thieves via social media, offering payment per stolen device. He noted that newer models could command higher prices, with some iPhones potentially fetching up to £5,000 in China and Hong Kong due to fewer online restrictions.

As part of Operation Echosteep, the Metropolitan Police has made 14 arrests and seized over £250,000 in cash. While more than 1,000 victims have been reunited with their devices, the total number of recovered phones exceeds 10,000. Commander Featherstone acknowledged that phone theft rates remain high in some boroughs, such as Westminster, and called for industry assistance to address the issue.

Next steps

The Metropolitan Police has been collaborating with companies like Apple to track stolen handsets and is working with the Home Secretary to explore legislative changes. These include making it mandatory for phone companies to publish data on stolen devices and enforcing measures to render stolen phones unusable.