KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Three men have been sentenced to a combined 25 years in prison for their roles in what the Metropolitan Police described as the UK’s largest mobile phone smuggling network, which trafficked tens of thousands of stolen phones from Britain to China.
Amir Muhammad Khadikhel, 35, Esmat Miakhel, 33, both from Afghanistan, and Mansoor Mohammad, 30, from India, were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London on Friday, September 25. Khadikhel received nine and a half years in prison, Miakhel nine years, and Mohammad six and a half years.
Khadikhel and Miakhel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen mobile phones, conspiracy to transfer and export stolen phones, and participating in the activities of an organised crime group. Mohammad pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen phones and participating in the activities of the group.
According to the Metropolitan Police, the investigation established that the group was responsible for trafficking up to 40,000 stolen mobile phones from the UK to China during 2024 and 2025. Police said the phones accounted for around 40 percent of all mobile phones stolen in London during that period.
The investigation began in December 2024 after police discovered a shipment containing around 1,000 iPhones at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. Almost all of the devices had been reported stolen. The discovery led to Operation Echosteep, through which detectives traced the wider supply chain connecting street-level phone thieves in London with handlers and overseas exporters.
Police arrested Khadikhel and Miakhel in northeast London on September 23, 2025. Several hundred phones were found in their vehicle, while another 2,000 devices were seized from properties linked to them. Mohammad was subsequently arrested after investigators identified his role in handling and supplying stolen phones.
The Metropolitan Police said the operation has so far resulted in the recovery of more than 10,000 stolen iPhones, while more than 1,000 victims have been reunited with their devices. Police also said street-level thieves could receive up to £300 for a stolen handset, while some devices were later sold for as much as $5,000 in China.
The case comes amid continued efforts by London police to tackle mobile phone theft, which remains a significant problem in the capital. The Metropolitan Police said phone theft and robbery offences have fallen by a fifth across London in 2026, representing more than 9,000 fewer victims, while police have increased the use of intelligence-led operations and technology to target phone thieves and organised networks.
The Metropolitan Police has also called on phone manufacturers and technology companies to make stolen devices more difficult to reset and resell, arguing that reducing the resale value of stolen phones could help disrupt the international market that enables large-scale phone theft.
The case also comes amid a long-established Afghan presence in the United Kingdom, particularly in London, which has become home to a significant Afghan community. While the convictions of two Afghan nationals in this case concern the actions of specific individuals and do not indicate a broader pattern among Afghan immigrants, such cases can nevertheless attract public attention to migrant communities.
Community representatives and Afghan migrants may face concerns that high-profile criminal cases could contribute to negative perceptions or make integration more difficult. For Afghan immigrants, maintaining a clear distinction between individual criminal responsibility and the wider community is therefore important, particularly as many Afghans in Britain are rebuilding their lives after displacement and seeking to establish themselves through work, education and community participation.
