As the world becomes increasingly more educated about environmental issues people continue to look for new ways to get greener. One of these ways is by recycling mobile phones and other small electronic devices. Companies like Nokia and Samsung found that customers were far more likely to recycle their mobile phones if there is some kind of incentive or reward for doing so. Although some customers prefer to donate their phones to charities or to receive vouchers that they can use at popular stores, the most coveted reward of all is still cash. Customers who replace their phones often find that they can get cash value from many websites, including Envirofone, which offers customers money in exchange for their old phones. However, while offering cash for phones has increased the rate at which phones are recycled, it has also given birth to a new type of crime, where thieves steal phones to trade them into cash.
One of these criminals is thirty five year old Ahmadjan Popalzay, a former Royal Mail employee who was recently caught red handed stealing phones. After several customers on his route complained of not receiving packages, Popalzay was put under watch and was eventually caught cutting into a package which contained a mobile phone. A search of his person and home turned up an additional twenty five phones, which he had apparently stolen from packages which were meant to be delivered on his route.
When police searched his home they found several phones in envelopes that were meant to be sent to Envirofone to claim the cash reward.
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