The prosecutor added that phone smuggling in London was “prolific” and a “very significant societal problem”.
Police suspect the network was responsible for smuggling up to 40,000 phones during 2024 and 2025, exporting them to China. It is the equivalent of around 40% of all devices stolen in London at that time.
Featherstone says that wider group has “many layers in its hierarchy”, with handlers recruiting street thieves via social media and advertising how much they were willing to pay them per stolen device.
“So a modern device, or the most recent phone that had been released, would fetch a higher premium – in most cases around the £500 mark,” he explains.
“This network were collecting phones all across London from street thieves, and then they would take those phones in, and when they had enough they would then package them up and ship them out of the UK into China.”
Saira Pike, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Phone theft is more than just a financial loss as it involves victims losing personal data, precious pictures or memories and their sense of security.
“Amir Khadikhel, Ismat Miakhel and Mansoor Mohammed were at the heart of a sophisticated organised crime operation that profited from the misery of victims who had their mobile phones stolen across London.”
Police say children are often recruited over social media to steal phones.
Featherstone tells me one 14-year-old boy was stopped by officers with around 20 stolen phones on him, something he could potentially receive thousands of pounds for in a single day.
“Some of these devices, particularly iPhones, can fetch up to £5,000 in China and Hong Kong. The reason being that they can work on the internet without any type of restriction,” Featherstone said.
“This was a global operation, millions of pounds involved, because of the value of these devices.”