Three men have been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court for their involvement in a large-scale mobile phone smuggling network that trafficked thousands of stolen devices from the United Kingdom to China and other parts of Asia and the Middle East. Amir Khadikhel, 35, Ismat Miakhel, 33, and Mansoor Mohammed, 30, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group. Khadikhel and Miakhel, both Afghan asylum seekers, also admitted to conspiracy to remove stolen goods.
The operation was described by law enforcement officials as the UK’s largest mobile phone smuggling network. Investigations, which began in December 2024, were triggered after a victim used the Find My Phone app to trace a stolen device to a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. Police discovered shipments containing hundreds of smartphones wrapped in tin foil, a method believed to block signals to prevent tracking. More than 5,000 stolen phones worth approximately £5.5 million were seized during the investigation, with some reports estimating the total value of smuggled devices could be as high as £181 million based on the number of phones trafficked.
Detectives uncovered a complex supply chain involving street-level thieves paid up to £300 per handset, middlemen, handlers, and exporters. The stolen phones, predominantly iPhones, were then sent abroad, where in markets such as China they reportedly sold for up to $5,000 due in part to being exempt from certain government restrictions applied to new devices.
Further searches in London led officers to a dry fruits and nuts shop on Lea Bridge Road in east London, identified as a storage site linked to Khadikhel and Miakhel. A hidden trapdoor in the shop's basement concealed numerous devices and approximately £44,665 in cash. Additional raids recovered thousands more stolen phones, some even heard ringing inside sealed boxes, further substantiating the scale and organisation of the smuggling operation.
The court heard personal background details relating to Khadikhel, who arrived in the UK in 2019 after fleeing Afghanistan, leaving behind his family. His defense highlighted challenges including homelessness and mental health issues and suggested he had been drawn into crime by an associate who provided accommodation.
Sentencing, Judge Adam Hiddleston emphasised the sophistication and significant scale of the criminal conduct. Khadikhel received a prison term of nine and a half years, Miakhel was sentenced to nine years, and Mohammed was handed six and a half years. The Metropolitan Police described the network as highly organised with a considerable financial impact.