How 'largest phone smuggling network' was uncovered

Image source, Metropolitan Police Image caption, Police arrested Amir Muhammad Khadikhel and Ismat Miakhel in September 2025

London home affairs correspondent Published 25 September 2026, 17:12 BST Updated 38 minutes ago It started with a single stolen mobile phone, found inside a sealed parcel, inside a warehouse near Heathrow airport.

It ended in police dismantling what detectives believe to be the UK's largest phone smuggling network.

The device had been electronically tracked to the warehouse not by officers, but by a victim who had it stolen from them just before Christmas in 2024 and alerted the DHL courier company.

"The phone was ringing in the package," explains Commander Andy Featherstone, the Metropolitan police's lead on mobile phone theft.

"It was still on. Which is very unusual in these circumstances, because they tend to be wrapped up, so the signal isn't working. But in this case it was."