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The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has warned mobile phone manufacturers and technology companies to take urgent action to tackle phone theft or risk government intervention.
Speaking at the Metropolitan Police’s first International Mobile Phone Crime Conference (IMPCC), Sir Mark Rowley said the theft of mobile phones has developed into a global organised crime business and cannot be solved by policing alone while stolen devices retain significant resale value overseas.
He said the industry must now move from discussions to implementing solutions that make stolen phones unusable anywhere in the world.
The warning follows a year of targeted enforcement by the Met, which recorded a 12% reduction in mobile phone theft across London in 2025, equating to around 10,000 fewer victims.
Police say officers have stepped up action across the criminal chain, targeting street-level thieves, handlers and organised crime groups involved in exporting stolen devices abroad.
In the force’s latest four-week crackdown on phone theft, officers made 248 arrests linked to offences ranging from pickpocketing and phone snatching to handling stolen goods and connections with international export networks.
Sir Mark Rowley said that while policing efforts were delivering results, technology companies must play a greater role in tackling the problem.
“Every delay means more people enduring the stress, disruption and fear of having their phone stolen,” he said.
“While stolen phones remain valuable, this market will continue. Only manufacturers and operating system providers can break this model at source.”
He warned that if the industry does not present concrete proposals by June to ensure stolen phones cannot be reactivated or resold anywhere in the world, the Met will formally ask the Government to introduce legislation.
Police say what often appears to be a simple street-level phone snatch is in fact the first step in a transnational criminal market worth hundreds of millions of pounds, with devices sometimes exported and resold overseas within days.
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