Thieves are stealing phones and making up to £15,000 a month with the Metropolitan Police failing to even identify a single suspect for crime in 160 neighbourhoods across the capital.
An investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches reveals that criminals are selling phones to Chinese businesses who are stripping them for parts or unlocking them for re-sale.
The Met has failed to identify a single suspect for thefts from a person, robberies burglaries, bike thefts and vehicle crime in more than 160 neighbourhoods across the capital for all of the last three years, according to the research for the programme.
In one small area around Oxford Circus and Regent Street there were more than 10,000 reported thefts from the person, with 99 per cent of cases going unsolved.
One phone snatcher told the programme: “I ain’t been nicked and I ain’t going to get nicked, that’s how I look at it.”
Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, criticised the Met and other forces for not “getting the basics right”.
He told the programme: “The Metropolitan Police, over the last couple of years, has seen unprecedented demand, there is no doubt about that.
“However, too often the police are not getting the basics right... seeing that so many communities have got zero per cent detection rates for some of these crimes, it’s not acceptable. If the chances of getting caught are so low, that’s not a deterrent.”
The data was compiled by Crest Advisory, a consultancy specialising in analysing police data.
London and crime victim Imran Kanji, whose phone was stolen, told Dispatches: “The police said they weren’t able to progress because they didn’t have any leads, there was no suspect and no CCTV that they could look at. So they closed the case and two weeks later my phone pinged in China.”
The iPhone still has its tracking enabled and it wended up in the Shenzhen area which is a hub for trading electronics.
An insider from the network which ships the stolen phones and parts told Dispatches that they can make up to £250 per phone which can earn them up to £15,000 a month.
They said: “Cheap phones I can make £100 to £150. If it’s a good phone like an iPhone 15 pro max I can earn £250. Maybe £12,000 to 15,000 a month.”
A Met police spokesperson told Dispatches: “We understand the impact robbery can have on victims... officers are targeting resources to hot spot areas, with increased patrols and plain clothes officers which deter criminals and make officers more visibly available. We encourage people to report ... whenever they have been a victim of robbery or theft.”
