Apple Crime Log: Feds Make a Bust in Violent Apple Delivery Truck Heist
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In this week’s iDrop News Apple Crime Log, federal cops make an arrest in a violent million-dollar hijacking of an Apple delivery truck. We also explain why Apple devices make such attractive targets for thieves.
Feds Arrest Three in Violent Hijacking of Apple Delivery Truck
Federal prosecutors have arrested three men who are accused of pulling off the violent hijacking of an Apple delivery truck parked outside a New York shopping center. The trio allegedly made off with more than one million dollars’ worth of Apple products, including iPhones, MacBooks, and numerous other items, according to ABC News.
The armed robbery, which took place in January, reportedly scored thieves more than $1.2 million in stolen Apple devices and accessories, including Apple Watches, iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and associated accessories. Authorities say the robbery was a well-coordinated operation that involved suspects forcing delivery workers into a truck at gunpoint, and then moving the cargo to another vehicle.
Suspects Alan Christhofer Cedeno-Ferrer, Michael Mejia-Nunez, and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla allegedly masked up, and armed themselves with handguns before intercepting delivery workers unloading Apple merchandise outside the Manhasset-area shopping center.
A black Honda Accord pulled up alongside the delivery truck, and the gunmen quickly subdued the victims before taking them to a nearby location. While one worker was restrained with zip ties and put in the back of the delivery truck, another worker was forced to drive the truck to a nearby office building’s secluded parking area. The workers were then confined in the truck’s cargo area, while the thieves transferred the Apple products to a second vehicle.
The feds say surveillance footage of the area shows the perpetrators used a Home Depot box truck, following the hijacked delivery vehicle to a nearby secondary location. The thieves quickly aligned the rear cargo compartments of the two trucks to allow them to quickly transfer the Apple products from one truck to the other without being detected by the public.
While the delivery workers were not harmed, the suspects did lock them inside the original delivery truck, still zip-tied. One worker eventually managed to free himself from his bonds, and called 911.
The three arrestees later pleaded not guilty in federal court, and were ordered held without bail until their trial date.
Trucks containing shipments of Apple products are attractive to thieves, as a single shipment to an Apple Store can contain hundreds of devices ready to be hit the shelves. Consumer electronics shipment heists before products ever reach retail stores are on the rise, and bad actors target Apple shipments because they contain devices that carry a high resale value — while also being relatively easy to transport.
In March, a 64-year-old Florida man was charged with driving away with nearly $2 million in iPhones, all of which were stolen from a FedEx facility in Doral. Jeffrey Moore was arrested for allegedly taking 38 shipping boxes full of iPhone 17 Pro Max phones from the shipping facility, adding up to nearly 1,800 devices.
While Apple does offer theft deterrent measures, such as device management systems and Activation Lock, stolen Apple hardware can still prove valuable, thanks to parts harvesting operations and other unauthorized resale channels.
