(BSS/AFP) - London`s Metropolitan Police on Monday said it had arrested 46 people in an operation to bust a global network suspected of smuggling nearly 40,000 stolen phones from the UK to China.

Police said it was the "largest" ever crackdown on phone theft in the British capital, where tourist hotspots are particularly plagued by snatchings.

The police investigation, dubbed Operation Echosteep, was launched in December 2024 after a box with some 1,000 iPhones -- most of which turned out to be stolen -- bound for Hong Kong was found near Heathrow Airport.

Police have made a total of 46 arrests connected to the operation, including 11 made while probing criminal gangs robbing delivery vehicles for the new iPhone 17.

"This is, without doubt, the largest operation of its kind in UK history," London mayor Sadiq Khan said, adding that police had targeted smuggling gang leaders as well as "street robbers and snatchers".

According to the Met police, over 80,000 mobile phones were stolen in London in 2024.