Four members of an organised crime gang have been jailed for stealing £150,000 worth of phones from shops across London, following an investigation by the Met's Flying Squad.
The gang raided mobile phone shops, 'terrorising' staff before clearing shelves of valuable devices such as iPhones, Croydon Crown Court heard. In just over a week in 2025, they targeted six shops across the capital, stealing £150,000 of stock.
The gang targeted and robbed Three and O2 stores across London, including in Lewisham, Woolwich, Wood Green, Haringey, Sutton and Colliers Wood. They were all convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery.
Sentences handed down
Sammie Govera, 32, Kevin Duarte, 29, and Louis Pandanzyla, 28, plus an unnamed male youth for legal reasons, were sentenced today. Govera, described as the ringleader of the gang, was sentenced to 13 years and six months' imprisonment, while Duarte was given one year and 10 months in a Young Offender Institution.
Pandanzyl will serve an 18-month community order, including 150 hours of unpaid work. The fourth defendant was sentenced to a rehabilitation order with intensive supervision.
They were tracked down after a surveillance campaign by the Flying Squad, which specialises in bringing high-value robbers to justice. Dramatic body-worn footage released by the Met shows the moment officers swooped on the gang as they attempted to rob an O2 phone shop in Sutton. The court heard how CCTV footage and phone data had been used to pinpoint the robbers and prove their guilt.
Police crackdown on phone theft
Detective Chief Inspector Laura Hillier, from the Met's Flying Squad, said the men were part of an organised crime gang stealing devices for profit in a reign of 'terror'. She said after the sentence: 'These criminals thought they could terrorise shop staff, steal phones and vanish without a trace. They were wrong. Our detectives worked quickly, piecing together CCTV, phone data and forensic evidence to catch them.'
'Commercial robberies across London are down 13 per cent because of our relentless focus on pursuing and arresting those responsible. Let this serve as a warning: if you commit robbery in London, we will find you and bring you to justice.'
In September, officers arrested more than 700 suspects and recovered hundreds of suspected stolen phones as part of the Met's largest-ever crackdown on phone theft. Police units were deployed to hotspot locations across London, using tactics including drones, high-powered e-bikes and live facial recognition technology to identify and apprehend offenders.
Mobile phone theft and robbery fell from 81,439 offences in 2024 to 71,872 in 2025, according to police figures. They say so far this year phone theft offences are down by a fifth in the same period compared to last year. Between January and September, there were 44,064 offences compared with 53,963 during the same period last year, meaning nearly 10,000 fewer victims across London.
