3,400 Stolen Phones Worth Rs. 28.5 Crore Recovered in Karachi

In Karachi, mobile dealers have turned over 3,386 stolen, snatched, and missing mobile phones worth over Rs. 285 million to the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) over the past decade, according to ProPakistani. The phones were identified when customers brought them to dealers for resale and were cross-checked against CPLC records.

The Karachi Electronic Dealers Association (KEDA) reported that dealers recently handed over an additional 231 stolen, snatched, and missing phones valued at approximately Rs. 5 million to the CPLC. These phones will be returned to their rightful owners who lodged complaints.

Under a partnership between KEDA, CPLC, and local police, mobile dealers verify new and used smartphones against CPLC records before reselling them. Stolen, snatched, or missing phones are handed over to the authorities. KEDA President Rizwan Irfan explained that dealers inform sellers when a phone is flagged in CPLC records.

However, in some instances, suspected criminals attempted to sell large quantities of suspicious phones despite warnings. Dealers and KEDA have detained around 20 such suspects and handed them over to the police. Irfan emphasized that the used mobile phone market remains crucial for both traders and consumers, providing better margins for dealers and more affordable phones for buyers.

He noted that a significant number of stolen and snatched phones continue to circulate through informal markets and are smuggled into Afghanistan and Iran. While the government contemplated banning the resale of used mobile phones in 2016, traders devised a verification system with authorities to keep the market running while preventing the resale of stolen phones.