- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
An Afghan asylum seeker who was the mastermind behind Britain's 'largest mobile phone smuggling network' that shipped £181million worth of stolen devices has been jailed.
asserted
that → see → devices
Amir Khadikhel, 35, together with compatriot Ismat Miakhel, 33 and Indian Mansoor Mohammed, 30, admitted receiving tens of thousands of handsets stolen by phone snatchers across Britain.
asserted
Khadikhel → admit → Britain
At Southwark Crown Court on Friday, Khadikhel, of Eastway in Wanstead, was sentenced to nine and a half years' imprisonment, while Miakhel was jailed for nine years and Mohammed handed a prison term of six and a half years.
asserted
Mohammed → sentence → years
Judge Adam Hiddleston, sentencing, described their offending as on an 'enormous scale financially' and labelled the gang's criminality as 'highly organised and sophisticated'.
asserted
Hiddleston → sentence → criminality
The men were responsible for almost half the phones stolen in London at the peak of their powers - and sent thousands of devices to the same high-rise block in Hong Kong that was infiltrated by Mail reporters in July last year.
asserted
that → steal → July
More than 5,000 phones worth £5.5million were seized following an investigation into the defendants, a sentencing hearing for the men at Southwark Crown Court heard.
asserted
hearing → seize → Court
Street thieves were paid up to £300 per handset and the gang sold them on to the Middle East and the Far East for as much as $5,000 (£3,700).
asserted
gang → pay → 5,000
Khadikhel masterminded the smuggling operation transporting over 62,000 stolen iPhones, worth £181 million to China and Dubai, making two huge shipments a week via DHL and UPS.
asserted
Khadikhel → mastermind → DHL
(l-r) Amir Muhammad Khadikhel, Ismat Maikhel and Mansoor Mohammed, all based in London and in their thirties, pleaded guilty to smuggling more than 62,000 stolen devices to China in the last year
Body worn footage issued shows the the arrest of Ismat Miakhel
Afghan national Khadikhel was arrested by police in September last year
asserted
Khadikhel → base → year
The three defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and participating in criminal activities of an organised crime group.
asserted
defendants → plead → group
The Metropolitan Police said the defendants were part of the 'UK's largest mobile phone smuggling network', adding it was responsible for trafficking thousands of stolen devices to China.
asserted
it → say → China
The force's investigation started in December 2024 when boxes being shipped to Hong Kong containing 865 smartphones wrapped in tin foil, which can block mobile and WIFI signals, were found at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport.
asserted
which → start → Airport
The operation was only uncovered after a tip-off from a victim who used the Find My Phone app to trace her stolen iPhone to the facility.
asserted
who → uncover → facility
Officers discovered that almost all of the phones in the boxes had been stolen – resulting in the launch of Operation Echosteep.
asserted
all → discover → Echosteep
The investigation uncovered a supply chain of street-level thieves, handlers and exporters moving stolen devices out of Britain.
asserted
investigation → uncover → Britain
Detectives intercepted further shipments and used forensics found on packages to identify those involved.
asserted
Detectives → intercept → those
In September 2025, police attended Roshan Dry Fruits and Nuts on Lea Bridge Road in east London to carry out a search of the shop and found it to be a 'storage location to which both Khadikhel and Miakhel could be linked', prosecutors said.
uncertain
prosecutors → attend → which
An open 'trap door' in the shop led to a basement where police found smartphones wrapped in tin foil, as well as £44,665 in cash.
asserted
police → lead → cash
In another incident, police tailed and intercepted a vehicle associated with the gang that had tinted windows.
asserted
that → tail → windows
Miakhel was the driver and Khadikhel was sitting in the back seat.
asserted
Khadikhel → sit → seat
An officer stopped the car but had to smash the window after being unable to open the locked doors.
asserted
officer → stop → doors
Phones were found scattered on the backseat of the car with red and yellow stickers as officers lifted Khadikhel out of the car.
asserted
officers → find → car
The Met's investigation recovered a plethora of stolen phones from the organised crime group
More than 5,000 phones worth £5.5million were seized following an investigation into the defendants
Khadikhel, of Eastway, Wanstead, and Miakhel were both wearing a necklace with a Sim extractor device attached when they were arrested in September 2025.
asserted
they → recover → September
Miakhel's phone was found to contain messages between December 2024 and May 2025 regarding payments totalling £243,050 to those providing stolen phones.
uncertain
phone → find → phones
The court heard Miakhel has two previous convictions relating to counterfeit goods, dating back to 2012 and 2019.
asserted
Miakhel → hear → 2012
'He is extremely remorseful and sorry,' said his barrister Ronnie Bergenthal.
asserted
barrister → say → ?
Brian Kennedy, defending Khadikhel said: 'Mr Khadhikel came to the UK after fleeing Afghanistan in 2019.
asserted
Khadhikel → defend → 2019
He had to leave wife and child.
asserted
He → have → wife
Homeless and mentally ill, he was offered accommodation by a member of the Afghan community, which was initially free of charge.'
asserted
which → offer → charge
Kennedy explained that Khadikhel was at that time unable to work legally in the UK and was in the process of applying for asylum.
asserted
Khadikhel → explain → asylum
The barrister claimed Khadikhel's host told him that he had to pay to stay and could work for him for £70 a day.
uncertain
he → claim → 70
He was given phones to wrap in foil whilst continuing with his asylum application.
asserted
He → give → application
Khadikhel masterminded the smuggling operation transporting over 62,000 stolen iPhones, worth £181 million to China and Dubai, making two huge shipments a week via DHL and UPS
asserted
Khadikhel → mastermind → DHL
The Metropolitan Police said the defendants were part of the 'UK's largest mobile phone smuggling network'
asserted
defendants → say → network
But Judge Adam Hiddleston was dismissive of the suggestion that Khadikhel was unaware of the true value of the goods he was shipping when he ran his own operation.
asserted
he → ship → operation
'He knew all along, all the evidence leads back to him,' the judge said.
asserted
judge → know → him
The court heard that Mohammed, of High Road, Wood Green, worked within the middle rung of the enterprise – collecting phones from thieves and moving them on to Khadikhel and Miakhel at a profit for himself.
asserted
Mohammed → hear → himself
Mohammed, who came to the UK from India on a visa in 2019, was arrested in September 2025 while driving a Toyota Estima which was found to contain six faraday bags, which block electromagnetic and radio frequencies, in the glove box, as well as seven rolls of tin foil and mobile phones.
asserted
which → come → foil
The Indian national previously worked in a telephone repair shop which 'put him into contact with people looking to sell obviously stolen telephones', the court heard.
asserted
court → work → telephones
Mohammed's barrister, Ben Irwin, argued that his client played a lesser role in the conspiracy.
asserted
client → argue → conspiracy
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
