According to The New York Post, the NYPD conducted a sting on a stolen iPhone ring last week, resulting in the arrest of 141 merchants suspected of selling stolen Apple devices.
The sting was part of an ongoing attempt to reduce the black market feeding on stolen merchandise. The sting involved undercover officers approaching over 600 locations suspected of involvement in sales of stolen iPhones, and attempted to sell them devices which they stated had been stolen from their owners.
Undercover NYPD officers sold the electronics to merchants at more than 600 stores around the five boroughs this week — asking from $50 to $200 for iPhone 4s and iPad 2s — after clearly stating the popular gadgets were stolen, said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
NYPD Commissioner Ryan Kelley stated the following:
That’s our intention, to reduce the places where people who steal these things can go and sell them,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. “If someone is offering you an iPad for way below market value, you have to realize that it’s most likely stolen.”
Apple products, and iPhone and iPods specifically, are always hot targets for thieves due to their ease of resale and their high value. According to one officer, over half of all reported robberies involve an iPhone.
