Met officers target phone thieves in Friday night operation

A specialist operation tackling phone thieves operating in tourist hotspots in south London has resulted in six people being arrested for robbery.

From late on Friday, 24 April into the early hours of the following day, Met officers targeted crime hotspots around Southbank, Borough Market and Waterloo where phone thieves are known to operate.

Plain clothes officers, specialist pursuit drivers and motorbikes were deployed to catch offenders who often use illegally modified e-bikes to snatch phones and get away.

Shortly after midnight, officers identified a group of suspected phone thieves operating on Borough High Street in Southwark. The suspects were using a distraction tactic which involved approaching members of the public and asking them to open their phones to follow them on social media. While the device was unlocked, they would steal the phone. Officers moved in within minutes to intercept the group, arresting the suspects on suspicion of conspiracy to rob.

It comes as the Met continues to make tackling phone theft one of its top priorities, cutting offences by 13,000 in the past financial year compared to previous.

Detective Superintendent Gareth Gilbert, who leads action against phone theft in Southwark and Lambeth, said:

“We are cracking down on phone theft, and our tactics are delivering results. Across London, neighbourhood crime is down by more than 15 per cent. That’s 40,000 fewer victims spared the stress, cost and disruption of crime.

“In Southwark and Lambeth, what we are doing is working. In just one week, we cut e-bike enabled crime, which is linked to phone theft, by nearly 40 per cent.

“Our message is simple: if you commit these crimes, we will catch you.”

Officers made 15 arrests in total over a 12-hour period, for offences including robbery, theft and drugs related offences.

The targeted activity comes as the Met continues to make significant reductions in crime, including:

• 21 per cent reduction in theft from person offences across London, meaning 20,000 fewer victims.

• 13,000 fewer mobile phone theft offences over the past financial year.

• 3,000 illegally modified e-bikes and e-scooters seized since January 2025.

The improvements follow sustained police action, with officers expanding specialist operations in neighbourhoods, using intelligence-led patrols and deploying new technology – such as drones, high-powered e-bikes and live facial recognition – to catch offenders and disrupt organised criminal networks.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has called on phone manufacturers and technology companies to do more to stop stolen devices being reset and resold.

He has set a deadline of 1 June for industry to introduce meaningful measures to help “design out crime” by making stolen phones worthless. If progress is not made, the Met will ask the government to consider legislative action.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Video footage available here: https://mps.box.com/s/wpk5uuej2dtcs2ur6mz22z798ammykjq

Background:

• Operation Reckoning, which ran between 19 January and 16 February, was a period of intensified activity across London to tackle mobile phone theft – much of which is committed using powered two-wheelers. The operation resulted in 248 arrests.

• At the Met’s first International Mobile Phone Crime Conference in March, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley made clear that policing alone cannot solve phone theft while stolen devices continue to hold significant resale value.