Southwark remains one of the worst mobile phone theft hot spots in London according to new figures, amid a Met crackdown following the successful dismantling of an international phone smuggling gang believed to be responsible for half of the capital’s stolen phones.
In 2024 Southwark had the third most mobile phones stolen of any London borough, with 7,316 thefts according to FOI responses obtained by campaign group Crush Crime.
Across the capital a record-breaking 116,656 mobile thefts were recorded in 2024 – up by 50 per cent from 77,000 in 2017.
The same FOI revealed Westminster experienced the most mobile phone thefts, recording an astonishing 34,039 incidents, followed by Camden with 10,907.
Meanwhile, the likelihood of securing a conviction for a stolen phone is vanishingly low – in Southwark just 0.3 per cent of phone thefts result in a positive outcome.
Met busts international phone smuggling ring
The statistics comes as the Met recently launched a sting operation against a suspected international gang suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China over the past year – 40 per cent of all stolen phones in London.
The investigation started with the discovery of a box of a thousand mobile phones destined for Hong Kong at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport last December.
Officers discovered that nearly all of the iPhones in the box had been stolen and launched Operation Echosteep. Specialist detectives – who would ordinarily investigate armed robberies and drug smuggling – were brought in to track down the suspects.
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They intercepted further shipments and used forensics on the packages to identify two men. Detectives carried out further enquiries over the following months as more packages were sent out of the country.
On Tuesday, 23 September, two men in their 30s were arrested in north-east London on suspicion of handling stolen goods. They were subsequently charged and remanded in custody.
A number of phones were found in their car – and around 2,000 more devices were found at properties linked to the suspects.
As a result of their enquiries, officers also uncovered details of some of the street-level offenders involved in thefts and robberies. Over the past week officers have made a further 15 arrests on suspicion of theft, handling stolen goods and conspiracy to steal.
The Met has since carried out two weeks of targeted and precise activity in response to phone theft which resulted in 46 arrests.
On Thursday, 25 September, two further men in their 30s were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and handling stolen goods after Met officers recovered approximately £40,000 in cash at a phone shop in Seven Sisters Road, Islington. The men have since been bailed pending further investigation.
Another man was charged with handling stolen goods after being stopped with 10 suspected stolen phones at Heathrow Airport on Saturday, 20 September.
Officers also discovered two iPads, two laptops and two Rolex watches. Further enquiries revealed the same man had travelled between London and Algeria more than 200 times in two years.
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin, the senior investigating officer for Operation Echosteep, said the smuggling group “specifically targeted Apple products because of their profitability overseas.
“We discovered street thieves were being paid up to £300 per handset and uncovered evidence of devices being sold for up to $5,000 in China.”
Where in Southwark are you most likely to get your phone nicked?
In Southwark, the north of the borough is statistically where you are most at risk of having your mobile phone nicked.
The council previously explained that phone theft is highest around transport hubs and areas with high pedestrian footfall.
This would appear to explain why the numbers are so high in North Walworth and Chaucer, which are near London Bridge, Borough and Southwark stations and Elephant and Castle’s two stations.
Cllr Natasha Ennin, Southwark Council’s lead on community safety, has stressed in the past that the problem is an inner London problem rather than a Southwark one. The other two worst boroughs for phone theft are both in central London – Westminster and Camden and both have lots of stations (32 and 17 respectively) appearing to back up the transport hub theory.
Mobile phone thefts in Southwark’s Safer Neighbourhood Wards (January to October 2025)
- Borough and Bankside: 758 incidents (71.6 per 1,000 people)
- Southwark London Bridge & West Bermondsey – 452 incidents (27.8 per 1,000 people)
- North Walworth: 305 incidents (25.8 per 1,000 people)
- Chaucer: 318 incidents (25.8 per 1,000 people)
- Rotherhithe: 189 incidents (11.2 per 1,000 people)
- North Bermondsey: 125 incidents (8.9 per 1,000 people)
- South Bermondsey: 82 incidents (4.7 per 1,000 people)
- Old Kent Road: 59 incidents (3.0 per 1,000 people)
- Faraday: 97 incidents (6.0 per 1,000 people)
- Rye Lane: 124 incidents (7.7 per 1,000 people)
- Surrey Docks: 38 incidents (2.6 per 1,000 people)
- Goose Green: 48 incidents (4.1 per 1,000 people)
- Camberwell Green: 86 incidents (5.6 per 1,000 people)
- St Giles: 73 incidents (5.6 per 1,000 people)
- Peckham: 35 incidents (2.5 per 1,000 people)
- Champion Hill: 64 incidents (6.0 per 1,000 people)
- Newington: 54 incidents (3.9 per 1,000 people)
- Peckham Rye: 85 incidents (6.7 per 1,000 people)
- Dulwich Village: 49 incidents (4.0 per 1,000 people)
- Dulwich Hill: 5 incidents (0.5 per 1,000 people)
- Dulwich Wood: 37 incidents (3.3 per 1,000 people)
Reacting to the crackdown, Mayor Sadiq Khan credited the recent reorganisation of the Met, which involved the closure of several police front counters and the removal of school officers, who were redeployed into neighbourhood teams.
Khan said: “Thanks to our record funding, the Met are boosting visible neighbourhood policing across London and deploying specialist operations in hotspot areas like Westminster and the West End, where nearly 40 per cent of phone thefts occur.
“This crackdown has already led to hundreds of arrests and thousands of handsets seized, contributing to a 13 per cent drop in theft and robbery across London in the first quarter of this year.”
Detective Inspector Mark Gavin, the senior investigating officer for Operation Echosteep, said: “Finding the original shipment of phones was the starting point for an investigation which uncovered an international smuggling gang which we believe could have been responsible for exporting up to 40 per cent of all the phones stolen in London.
“Behind every one of those phones is a victim. People keep their lives on their phones, and it can be heartbreaking when they’re stolen. We heard from people who had lost photos of deceased relatives and others who were violently assaulted during robberies.
“This group specifically targeted Apple products because of their profitability overseas. We discovered street thieves were being paid up to £300 per handset and uncovered evidence of devices being sold for up to $5,000 in China.”
