Afghan asylum seeker sentenced for running £181 million phone smuggling ring
Amir Khadikhel and two co-accused received prison terms for operating the UK’s largest stolen-phone network that moved over 62,000 iPhones to China and Dubai.
A court in London handed down lengthy sentences to three men who ran the country’s biggest mobile-phone smuggling operation, moving more than 62,000 stolen iPhones valued at £181 million to markets in China and Dubai. Amir Khadikhel, an Afghan asylum seeker, received nine and a half years, while compatriot Ismat Miakhel got nine years and Indian national Mansoor Mohammed six and a half years. Investigators traced the network after a Find My Phone alert led them to a tin-foil-wrapped shipment near Heathrow, prompting Operation Echosteep.
The gang paid street thieves up to £300 per handset and sold the phones abroad for as much as $5,000 each, using DHL and UPS for twice-weekly exports. Police raids seized over 5,000 phones worth £5.5 million and uncovered cash and equipment at a storage site in east London. Judges emphasized the sophisticated, financially massive nature of the crime, rejecting claims that Khadikhel was unaware of the phones’ value.
Why it matters
The case highlights a massive international theft ring that exploited vulnerable asylum seekers and threatened consumer security.
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