The Metropolitan Police says it arrested more than 700 people and seized hundreds of suspected stolen mobile phones during a month-long operation across London in September. Officers also executed more than 50 warrants and visited 220 second-hand phone shops as part of what the force describes as its largest crackdown on phone theft.
The operation ran from 1 to 30 September and targeted phone theft, robbery and the handling of stolen goods. The police said some people arrested were known repeat offenders. Officers also seized drugs, knives, firearms, tens of thousands of pounds in cash and more than 110 illegal e-bikes during the period.
Arrests and shop visits
The shop visits were intended to gather intelligence and build relationships with legitimate businesses, the force said. The warrants included searches at second-hand phone shops suspected of handling stolen devices. The reported figures describe police activity, not the number of people convicted or the number of thefts prevented.
Several incidents highlighted the range of work involved. In Hackney on 4 September, officers on patrol arrested a robbery suspect shortly after a phone was stolen in daylight and recovered property. The suspect was on police bail, pending further enquiries. Later that day in Southwark, four men were arrested after officers investigating the robbery of a visitor’s phone identified a group of suspects. Twelve suspected stolen phones were recovered, and several were returned to their owners at the scene. All four men were bailed.
On 5 September, a 21-year-old man who had failed to stop for officers fled into a park and entered a shallow pond. Police recovered six suspected stolen phones wrapped in foil and arrested him. He was later released on bail while enquiries continued. In a separate incident on 9 September, officers recovered 11 phones and rolls of tin foil during a search of a 32-year-old man riding an e-bike. He was charged with robbery and remanded in custody.
In a north London investigation on 11 September, officers raided a shop suspected of handling stolen devices. Further enquiries led to an address where more than 100 suspected stolen phones were seized. Five suspects were arrested and charged. Those case statuses are distinct: an arrest or charge is not a conviction.
Latest figures and wider activity
The force’s accompanying data release reported 3,963 phone theft and robbery offences across London in August. That was the lowest August total since 2022, when 3,311 offences were recorded. The comparison shows that the latest figure remains above the 2022 level, despite being described by the police as a four-year low.
Across the full year, the Met recorded 81,439 phone theft and robbery offences in 2024 and 71,867 in 2025. From January to August this year, it recorded 39,793, compared with 49,136 over the same months last year. The force characterises that as a fall of about a fifth, or roughly 9,000 fewer victims. It says Westminster saw a fall of almost 50 per cent; the release does not provide the underlying Westminster totals.
The Met said local officers and specialist teams have focused on theft hotspots using drones, high-powered e-bikes and live facial recognition to identify suspects. The force also described intelligence-sharing with Apple to help track stolen devices in the UK and abroad, and said Apple strengthened security measures on its devices earlier this year after more than two years of engagement.
Police warned that some criminals are using social engineering: posing as trusted organisations and contacting victims on other devices to seek passwords or account details. The force said legitimate police and technology companies will not ask for information that gives someone access to a phone or account.
The September operation follows years of police efforts to target both street-level theft and the resale and export of stolen devices. Its results combine arrests, suspected stolen property recovered and disruption activity; the published figures do not establish how many individual thefts were prevented or how many cases will result in convictions.
