Man Caught With Over 100 Stolen Phones Hidden In Bizarre Way In Switzerland
Swiss police have discovered a stash of 121 stolen phones hidden in aluminum foil from a man who tried to smuggle them to Italy.
Police found the 71 iPhones and 29 Samsung devices in Chiasso, Switzerland, individually wrapped in foil in the suspect’s suitcase as he traveled by train from Zurich to Milan.
Italian police have released images of dozens of wrapped phone packages.
The suspect, a 40-year-old Romanian man whose name is unknown, was arrested on the spot.
It is believed that all the phones were stolen during the Street Parade music festival in Zurich on August 10. Efforts are now underway to return them to their rightful owners.
Swiss police have discovered a stash of 121 stolen phones hidden in aluminum foil after a man allegedly tried to smuggle them into Italy
The 71 iPhones and 29 Samsung devices were discovered by police in Chiasso, Switzerland
It is believed that all the phones were stolen during the Street Parade music festival in Zurich on August 10.
This is because there have been many telephone thefts in Europe, including the United Kingdom, in recent months.
London in particular has been hit by a series of terrifying cases of phone thefts, with thieves using electric bikes to steal the devices and then make a quick getaway.
Figures show that a mobile phone is reported stolen every six minutes in London.
Nearly 52,000 devices were stolen in the capital last year as criminals used violence and distraction techniques to catch their victims.
Criminals often target pedestrians in busy locations, such as train stations, shopping malls or concert halls. They usually approach them from behind, meaning victims don’t realise how vulnerable their phones are until it’s too late.
Mobile phones stolen from British streets are reportedly being transported in large numbers to warehouses in southern China, where they are dismantled, reassembled and sold at fire-sale prices.
The insatiable demand for second-hand phones in electronics hub Shenzhen is being fuelled by devices stolen by gangsters targeting busy areas in Britain, including music festivals.
After the devices are shipped into the city by criminals to take advantage of the city’s lax enforcement of stolen goods laws, they are sold second-hand, provided they can be unlocked and reset to factory settings.
If they can’t be sold whole, they are taken apart and the parts, such as the screen, motherboard and speakers, are used for repairs. Sometimes, they are even made into completely new devices.
Shenzhen is located in southern China, near the border with Hong Kong. It is known as the country’s ‘Silicon Valley’ for its expertise in electronics and is also home to major outlets selling used consumer goods.
