Met Police hunt down phone thieves in London

The Metropolitan Police has arrested more than 700 people in its largest-ever crackdown on phone theft in London.

This is the latest in a long-term, ongoing effort by the London police to shut down phone snatchers and the organised criminal enterprises involved in the handling of stolen devices.

The Met said that a number of those arrested in its operation from 1 to 30 September were repeat offenders, and officers also seized more than 110 illegal e-bikes along with drugs, knives, firearms, and cash.

It noted that the arrests made this past month highlight how organised criminals involved in phone theft are linked to other criminal activity such as the supply of drugs.

As part of this crackdown, the Metropolitan Police deployed officers on its Sur-Ron electric bikes, conducting dramatic, high-speed chases to hunt down and apprehend people suspected of phone snatching.

One incident saw a suspect fleeing on an e-bike jump into a pond and discard multiple phones. He was pursued by officers on their own e-bikes who recovered both the sodden suspect and six phones wrapped in foil, which is a tactic used by phone thieves to hinder tracking.

“The tide is definitely turning on mobile phone crime in London with 16,000 fewer mobile phones stolen in the past year and neighbourhood crime falling further too,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

“New Met Police drones and Sur-Ron bikes are allowing the police to take the fight directly to the street robbers, while street vendor ‘middlemen’ who unlock stolen devices or break them up for parts are being shut down, and organised gang leaders responsible for smuggling stolen phones out of the country are being brought to book.”

Phone snatching plummeting in London

It is clear from the latest data that the Mayor’s ongoing efforts to reduce phone theft in the capital is working.

Since more than 80,000 phone thefts and robberies were recorded in 2024, Met officers have embarked on a concerted effort to take action against the organised criminal elements behind this type of crime.

These operations have focussed on disrupting the trade in stolen devices, which includes working with smartphone manufacturers to make it more difficult to resell stolen smartphones.

In addition, Metropolitan Police offers have been equipped with high-speed e-bikes and facial recognition technology to tackle theft directly in hotspots around the capital.

This strategy has led to phone thefts falling by almost 10,000 in 2025, and the downward trend has continued this year. Up until August this year, there have been 39,783 offences, down from 49,136 in the same period last year.

Now read: You now need a £40,000 salary to rent a room in London