Federal prosecutors arrested three men accused of committing the robbery.
Federal prosecutors say three men violently hijacked an Apple delivery truck outside a New York mall and escaped with more than $1 million worth of iPhones, MacBooks and other products.
The January armed robbery reportedly netted more than $1.2 million in stolen Apple products, including iPhones, MacBooks, iPads, Apple Watches and accessories. Authorities described the theft as a coordinated operation in which the suspects forced delivery drivers into a truck at gunpoint before moving the cargo into another vehicle.
The suspects were identified as Alan Christhofer Cedeno-Ferrer, Michael Mejia-Nunez and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla. Delivery workers unloading Apple merchandise outside the Manhasset mall were intercepted by masked men armed with handguns.
A black Honda Accord pulled up alongside the truck and the men approached the victims before forcing them to drive nearby. A worker was restrained with zip ties in the back of the truck during the theft.
Another worker was forced into the driver’s seat and ordered to drive less than half a mile to a secluded parking lot behind an office building. The suspects then confined the two workers inside the loading area while they transferred the Apple products to a second vehicle.
Prosecutors describe coordinated merchandise theft operation
The theft operation used a second truck intended for the transfer of goods. Surveillance footage reportedly showed a Home Depot box truck following the hijacked Apple delivery vehicle to a nearby secondary location.
The suspects lined up the rear cargo compartments so they could quickly move Apple products between trucks, out of public view.
Once the transfer was complete, the suspects closed the doors of the cargo ship while the victims were still inside and fled the scene. A worker then managed to free himself and call 911.
The defendants later pleaded not guilty in federal court. They were held without bail while awaiting trial.
Apple shipments remain attractive targets for organized theft networks
ABC News first reported the arrests and details of the alleged Apple delivery truck hijacking.
A single shipment to a busy Apple Store can contain hundreds of devices ready for immediate sale. Organized theft teams are increasingly targeting shipments of consumer electronics before the products reach retail stores.
Apple products have repeatedly been linked to high-profile heists because they have high resale value in relatively compact packages.
Even with protections like activation lock and device management systems, stolen Apple hardware can still retain value through unauthorized resale channels and coin collection operations.
The suspects also appeared to minimize visibility near the mall itself by moving the truck to a quieter secondary location before transferring the merchandise to another enclosed vehicle.