AN AFGHAN asylum seeker masterminded a crime ring which shipped £181million of stolen iPhones out of the UK, a court heard yesterday.
Amir Khadikhel, his fellow Afghan Ismat Miakhel and Indian Mansoor Mohammed sent more than 62,000 to the Far East and Middle East using unwitting courier firms DHL and UPS.
The operation was uncovered following a tip-off from a victim who used the to trace hers to a warehouse at .
A raid recovered 3,000 stolen mobiles.
Suspects were later seen handing over phones and wads of cash outside a shop in North London.
A search of a London property led to phones being found under a hidden trapdoor and a further swoop recovered 299 more when some were heard ringing in sealed boxes.
Southwark crown court heard the phones had been stolen across the country.
They can be worth up to £3,700 in China because, unlike new phones, they are not subject to government restrictions.
Khadikhel’s lawyer said he came to the UK after fleeing Afghanistan in 2019, leaving behind his wife and child.
He said he was homeless and had mental health issues, and was lured into criminality by a person who housed him.
Khadikhel and Mohammed both admitted conspiring to receive stolen mobile phones, as well as participating in the criminal activities of an organised group.
Khadikhel also admitted conspiring to transfer the phones out of the UK.
Miakhel earlier admitted conspiring to receive and transfers stolen goods. Khadikhel, 35, of Wanstead, was jailed for 9½ years.
Miakhel, 33, of Walthamstow, got nine years and Mohammed, 30, of Wood Green, six years and five months.
