Nigerian Crime Gangs are believed to be cashing in a lot of money from stolen phones from the United Kingdom. Recently, the United Kingdom have been witnessing a phone theft epidemic and these phones somehow end up at Lagos selling as second-hand phones.
Smartphones snatched by moped-riding thugs are being exported more than 4,000 miles to the African nation where they are sold for up to £560 each on a booming black market, The Sun reported. A newspaper investigation found “UK Used Phones” being sold in big stores and shops in Lagos. A trader who was questioned on these phones confirmed the phones were London used.
Reports indicate that hi-tech mobile phones are relatively scarce in Nigeria hence indulging in the UK Used Phones merchandise is highly profitable. The criminal operation is allowed to carry on unchecked because Nigeria has not signed up to a global deal which blacklists stolen devices, it was claimed.
Crime figures show 446,000 UK phone thefts in 2016 with 60,000 alone in London, where an epidemic of moped-enabled crime has exploded.
Scotland Yard recorded 16,158 phone crimes related to mopeds in the 12 months to June last year, more than three times than that reported in the previous year, according to The Sun.
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