Crime Bureau: catching the mastermind of UK iPhone thefts

An accused murderer’s iCloud account contained sexual abuse images, a deputy is arrested for AirTag stalking, and a man gets 17 months in prison for stealing an iPad, all in this week’s Apple Crime Blotter.

This is the last of an occasional AppleInsider series, looking at the world of Apple-related crime.

How the ‘mastermind’ of UK iPhone thefts was arrested

A man named Amir Khadikhel has been identified as the “mastermind” of a gang who organized the shipment of more than 60,000 stolen iPhones overseas from the UK.

According to The timesKhadikhel, identified as an “Afghan asylum seeker,” supervised a vast network of intermediaries. The ring “organized the shipment of 181 million (pounds) of handsets to China and Dubai in less than a year.”

This gang is believed to be responsible for 40% of iPhone thefts in London.

He was arrested, according to the report, after a man whose phone was stolen “used his phone tracking app to locate his handset at the courier company DHL’s depot near Heathrow.” The stolen iPhone was found in a package containing more than a thousand devices of this type, bound for Hong Kong.

This led to what the newspaper called a “complex investigation that ultimately dismantled an international smuggling network.”

Khadikhel and two others are scheduled to be sentenced on May 12.

Is “crime” the real reason the Towson Apple Store closed?

Apple announced in April that it would close three Apple Stores in June. One of them was the Apple Towson Town Center store in Maryland.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union has filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) lawsuit against Apple, claiming the company retaliated because employees unionized.

Apple, in a media statement when announcing the decision, had pointed to “the departure of several retailers and deteriorating conditions” in downtown Towson as the reason for its closure.

Does “declining conditions” mean “crime”? It has certainly been interpreted that way in some circles.

A Baltimore County councilman spoke in April about the “perception of crime in the mall.”

We can, however, say that the Towson Apple Store has never been the scene of any high-profile thefts, break-ins, or other crimes. This Apple Store has also never been mentioned in this column during its eight years of existence.

D4vd had child sex abuse images on iCloud, prosecutors say

The American singer known as D4vd, arrested in April in connection with a 14-year-old girl found in his car, had “a significant amount” of child sexual abuse images on his iCloud account, prosecutors said.

According to The BBCthe singer, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, had his iCloud account searched via a warrant. This resulted in the discovery of incriminating images in his possession.

Burke has been charged with numerous crimes, including murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and mutilation of remains. However, he is not yet facing any charges related to the alleged iCloud images.

The Volusia Sheriff’s Office in Florida said it suspended and then fired a part-time prisoner transport deputy after he was arrested for stalking his ex using an AirTag.

The woman, who was in a three-year relationship with the officer, “reported that she found AirTags in his vehicle and that of his adult daughter dating back to 2025.” After the breakup, she found an additional AirTag on her vehicle, as well as Ring footage of the then-deputy “crawling under her daughter’s vehicle at her home.”

The man even showed up and stopped behind the victim’s vehicle as she met with detectives.

The former MP was charged with criminal harassment and illegal installation of a tracking device.

Florida passed a law in 2025 cracking down on the unlawful use of AirTags for stalking.

Seattle man gets 17 months for iPad theft

A 33-year-old Seattle man was sentenced to 17 months in prison for a 2024 shoplifting theft in which he stole three iPads from a Fred Meyer store.

According to News of daily recordsthe man had pleaded guilty to organized retail theft and two counts of second-degree theft. The man had entered the electronics section of the store, asked to see different types of iPads, then fled with all three devices.

The same man also admitted to his participation in two other thefts from Fred Meyer stores, from which he took iPads.

Ex-employees accused of stealing MacBooks

Former employees of the MAC.BID store in Macon, Georgia, were accused of stealing MacBooks from the store, and one of them was arrested.

WMAZwhich cites an incident report from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, reports that four employees were seen surveilling a store stealing seven MacBooks. After the employees were confronted by management, one admitted to taking two computers and returned them, but a second denied taking any.

One of the employees was arrested on two counts of theft, including one of theft by kidnapping and one of theft by deception. Another employee is wanted for criminal theft.

Man arrested for fraudulent iPhone order

Also in Florida, a 40-year-old man was arrested in late April for purchasing an iPhone 16 Pro Max using another person’s identity and then taking the iPhone to that person’s workplace.

According to Tap into coral springsthis happened in October 2024. A few months later, the victim received a collection notice for a purchase he never made.

The accused thief faces charges of grand theft and criminal use of personal information.

Memphis man accused of hitting man, stealing and selling his iPhone

A 30-year-old Memphis man was arrested on theft charges after police say he punched a victim multiple times, stole her iPhone and then sold it at an EcoATM kiosk at a Walmart.

WREG explains that the victim claimed to have “played” with a woman in a bus terminal, during which she took his penknife. After he grabbed the woman’s bag and she told a group of people, one of them, the man who had taken the iPhone, punched her several times.

The man was charged with theft.

Two teenagers arrested for stealing iPhone from Facebook Marketplace

Police in Hamilton, Ontario, arrested two teenagers for the theft of an iPhone on April 11, announced on Facebook Marketplace.

According to The Hamilton Spectatorthe victim had arranged to sell the iPhone on Marketplace, with a meeting point at a gas station, with the seller using the pseudonym “Malakai McCollin”.

But when he arrived, the two teenagers “forcibly snatched the phone from his hands” and fled in a car. The two attackers, aged 15 and 16, were arrested and charged with theft under $5,000.

Police say this is one of 33 market-related thefts in Hamilton this year.

Uber driver in Nigeria arrested for stealing iPhone he was supposed to deliver

An Uber driver in Lagos, Nigeria, was arrested in mid-April for “allegedly disappearing with an iPhone 16” that he was supposed to deliver.

News actors reports that the driver picked up the delivery, canceled the trip en route and remained unreachable afterward.

A social media user, @Molayoo, posted on X what happened:

The attention that followed contributed to the man’s arrest.