Met Police dismantle UK's largest phone smuggling network after Heathrow warehouse find

September 25, 2026 at 09:12 PM2 min

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Metropolitan Police arrested Amir Muhammad Khadikhel and Ismat Miakhel in September 2025 after a victim tracked a stolen phone to a Heathrow warehouse. Officers seized more than 5,000 devices worth about £5.5m across the investigation. The men were found with phones wrapped in foil and Sim-removal pins during a car stop in Waltham Forest.

Key Facts

Police seized more than 5,000 stolen phones with a UK value of around £5.5m.
Amir Muhammad Khadikhel and Ismat Miakhel were arrested in September 2025 in Waltham Forest.
A shop on Lea Bridge Road in Leyton held a trapdoor basement with foil-wrapped phones and £44,665 in cash.
The investigation began after a victim tracked a stolen phone to a DHL warehouse near Heathrow and heard it ringing inside a parcel.
A third man, Mansoor Mohammed, was identified as involved in handling devices.

The Investigation

The case began when a victim whose phone was stolen just before Christmas 2024 tracked the device to a warehouse near Heathrow airport and alerted DHL. Commander Andy Featherstone said the phone was still ringing inside the package, which was unusual because stolen phones are often wrapped in foil to block signals. Police found more than 800 devices packaged in batches of five and stacked into nine boxes, some wrapped in foil and others in bubble wrap. The devices were destined to be shipped to Hong Kong, prompting the launch of Operation Echosteep with detectives from armed robbery and drug smuggling units. Further shipments were intercepted and forensic work on packages identified Khadikhel and Miakhel, who were then placed under surveillance.

Arrests and Evidence

In September 2025, police stopped a car in Waltham Forest and arrested Khadikhel and Miakhel, finding phones strewn across the back seat and others on the floor wrapped in foil. Both men wore necklaces with pins used to remove Sim cards from handsets. About 2,000 more devices were discovered at properties linked to the men. Southwark Crown Court heard that Roshan Fruit and Nuts on Lea Bridge Road in Leyton was used to store stolen phones, with a trapdoor leading to a basement containing foil-wrapped phones and £44,665 in cash. At another property, stolen phones were found stored inside a microwave.

Court Proceedings

Prosecutor Karen Robinson KC said the men played a leading role in a sophisticated criminal network that saw more than 5,000 phones seized by police. The court heard Khadikhel fled Afghanistan in 2019 and travelled to the UK as an asylum seeker. Mansoor Mohammed, who came to the UK from India on a visa in 2019, was also identified as being involved in handling devices.