Met and Apple join forces to disrupt global criminal networks as phone theft halved in Westminster

The Met and Apple have reached an agreement that protects mobile phone users, and is making stolen phones unusable.

The significant announcement comes as the Met Police almost halve phone theft in Westminster, following an intensive crackdown which has seen hundreds of arrests and thousands of phones recovered.

The technology company has also made a global change to its security system that better ensures stolen phones cannot be reused or resold – disrupting a highly organised international business model worth millions.

The changes come after two and half years of campaigning by the Met, which is also seeing Samsung and Google making security changes to also tackle the issue.

Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley said:

“I gave an ultimatum to tech firms – take urgent steps to prevent stolen phones from being resold and reused, or we will call on Government to step in and legislate.

“For the first time, we are routinely sharing intelligence on stolen devices, building a joint picture of how these phones move and whether they reappear in circulation. That partnership is already making a difference. If stolen phones cannot be reactivated, their value collapses, and so does the incentive to steal them. We are driving up the risk for offenders while cutting off the reward.

“Policing is playing its part. In the West End, where this crime was most concentrated, phone theft has fallen by 50 per cent through relentless, targeted policing. But we have also gone further by working directly with Apple to address the global market that has allowed this crime to thrive.

“This is an important step, but it must not stop here. If you are stealing phones in London, the reality is changing fast. The opportunities are shrinking, the risks are rising, and we are determined to dismantle this criminal model completely.”

The new agreement between the Met and Apple will see stolen device identifiers being shared, creating a joint intelligence picture to track phones and identify whether they reappear in circulation.

Early data from this collaboration shows that a significant number of stolen phones in a recent sample have not been successfully reactivated, significantly reducing their value to criminals.

Alongside this partnership, the Commissioner has written to the Home Secretary calling for legislation to require all phone companies to publish data on stolen devices and reconnections, ensuring transparency and accountability across the industry.

The Met has asked the Home Office to begin preparing legislation to introduce minimum technical standards so that any phone stolen in the UK is effectively unusable. These standards are complex, but we must be ready to act if industry fails to deliver.

Public support for stronger measures is clear, with 83 per cent of people backing the permanent blocking of stolen smartphones.

While enforcement activity will continue, the Met is clear that the long term solution lies in collapsing the criminal market.

On Monday, 1 June, officers launched a ten-day focused crackdown on phone theft across London, codenamed Operation Reckoning. It involved carrying out arrests of prolific and violent phone thieves, executing search warrants at shops suspected of handling stolen goods, and deploying specialist pursuit drivers, known as ‘interceptors’, to track and detain offenders on e-bikes.

Reckoning 5 is part of an ongoing sustained and targeted crackdown of phone theft – from street thieves to international exporters. Other phone theft operations and court cases include:

• In April, three mobile phone handlers pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods. This followed a year-long Met investigation into the UK’s largest mobile phone smuggling network. The group was responsible for trafficking up to 40,000 stolen devices from the UK to China between 2024 and 2025 – around 40 per cent of all phones stolen in London at that time.

• In April, the Met seized more than 1,000 suspected stolen mobile phones during a raid on a shop in north-west London. Officers arrested four men, aged between 22 and 63, on suspicion of handling stolen goods, possession of drugs and intent to supply.

• Earlier this year, a four-week crackdown on phone theft saw officers make 248 arrests and recover 770 stolen devices. Local officers worked alongside specialist teams, using cutting-edge technology, including drones and high-powered e‑bikes, to catch offenders and significantly disrupt the stolen mobile phone market.

• Thirty-two people were arrested in an operation targeting a gang behind large-scale phone theft across London. The investigation found children as young as 14 were being paid hundreds of pounds, with incentives promoted on social media. Officers recovered more than 1,000 phones and 200 laptops bound for export. So far, 20 people have been charged, with more expected.

The Met has seized more than 3,500 illegally modified e-bikes and e-scooters since January last year. Offenders are increasingly using high-powered e-bikes to snatch phones and evade police, often riding dangerously through busy areas. Tackling this threat remains a priority, with the Met planning to expand its fleet of high-powered e-bikes to pursue offenders more effectively.

Intelligence-led neighbourhood policing is delivering strong results and making our communities even safer, with offences across London down 15.6 per cent in the financial year 2025/26. That is equivalent to more than 40,000 fewer victims of crime. This reduction has been driven by significant falls in key offence types, including theft from the person (down 21.4 per cent), vehicle crime (down 13.9 per cent) and personal robbery (down 13 per cent).

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:

“The Commissioner and I have been crystal clear that mobile phone crime cannot be solved by policing alone. Decisive and coordinated action from the mobile phone industry is long overdue to prevent stolen phones being used, sold and repurposed both here and across the globe. I’ve seen for myself how Google and Samsung have introduced some advanced security features and I welcome Apple and the Met reaching an agreement to protect mobile phone users, and make stolen phones unusable.

“This work is going hand-in-hand with frontline work being carried out by our police officers who are working incredibly hard to bear down on mobile phone crime in London, arresting phone thieves on the street, shutting down vendors trading stolen devices and dismantling the international criminal gangs who are all part of the £50million-a-year trade in stolen phones.

“New drones and Sur-Ron bikes, backed by record City Hall funds, are turbocharging the Met’s effort to tackle mobile phone crime, allowing us to take the fight directly to those stealing phones and make London’s streets safer. This has led to 13,000 fewer phone thefts in London over the last year, and my record funding has also doubled the number of officers in the West End, leading to a 50 per cent drop in phone thefts in the area. But there is more work still to do and I look forward to working with the Met, tech companies and the Government to help build a safer London for everyone.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The Met has reduced theft from the person and robbery offences where a mobile phone has been stolen by 14,000 over the last 12 months (June 2025-May 2026), an 18% reduction compared to the same period in the 12 months previous. So far this calendar year (Jan-May 2026), mobile phone theft from the person and robbery offences are down by 6,700, a 20.6% reduction compared to the same period in 2025. This is even more significant in Westminster, a national driver of theft from person crimes where we have seen a 45.8% reduction this calendar year so far (Jan-May 2026), that is 4,500 fewer phones being stolen in Westminster alone.

Video is available here: https://mps.box.com/s/v444nzud26wcxkrwxvf7d9yfjyr89swx

Operation Reckoning 5:

• 00:00 – 00:37 – Officers arrest a prolific phone thief at a property in west London on Wednesday, 3 June.

• 00:38 – 01:10 – Officers arrest a suspect after executing a search warrant at a phone shop in East Ham on Wednesday, 3 June.

• 01:11 – 01:48 – Officers arrest a suspect linked to courier van robberies in Hackey on Thursday, 4 June in Hackney.

• 01:49 – 06:11 – Interceptors arrest a prolific phone thief after a high-speed chase through London on Friday, 5 June.
  

General media cut:

• 00:00 – 01:08 – Ops room and drone footage supporting response and evidence gathering.

• 01:09 – 01:59 – Phone snatch incidents across London.

• 02:00 – 03:06 – Officers on Sur-Ron e-bikes, effective in chasing suspects on two-wheelers.

• 03:07 – 03:56 – Interceptors chase and arrest suspect on bike.

• 03:57 – 05:00 – Officers arrest suspect for conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

• 05:01 – 05:32 – Officers raid north-west London shop, seize 1,000 stolen phones.

Background:

• Yonder carried out online polling of 1,109 adults between 20 and 21 May, with results weighted to be nationally representative.