British police say they have disrupted a global criminal network suspected of smuggling tens of thousands of stolen mobile phones from the UK to China.

The Metropolitan Police announced on Tuesday that 46 people were arrested over the past two weeks in what the force described as its largest-ever operation against phone theft.

The investigation began last year after officers discovered a box containing about 1,000 iPhones, most of them stolen, at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. The shipment was bound for Hong Kong.

That find led police to uncover an international smuggling operation believed to be behind the export of up to 40 percent of all phones stolen in London.

Of the arrests, 11 were linked to gangs robbing courier vans transporting the new iPhone 17, while two suspects were detained on money laundering charges after £40,000 (€46,100) was recovered from a north London phone shop.

“We’ve dismantled criminal networks at every level, from street-level thieves to international organised crime groups exporting tens of thousands of stolen devices each year,” said police commander Andrew Featherstone.

Around 80,000 phones were stolen in London last year, many snatched in busy tourist areas. Police said the gang mainly targeted iPhones due to their high resale value abroad. Thieves were allegedly paid up to £300 (€345) per device, which could then fetch as much as $5,000 (€4,284) in China.

UK Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said the “unprecedented scale of this operation” sent a strong warning to criminals.

“If you’re involved in phone theft, be it on the streets, behind shop counters, or part of an organised crime gang, we’re coming after you,” she said.