Five Amazon employees have been arrested for allegedly stealing iPhones worth $592,000 from a logistics center in Madrid, Spain, Appleinsider reported.
The employees, who have long been fired, were arrested following an investigation by Amazon after they discovered that some packages shipped to customers weighed less than the actual order, according to the report
With the help of hidden cameras, investigation revealed that some employees were secretly slipping new iPhones such as the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro into orders, replacing the actually ordered contents of a package at the last moment. It is believed the orders were placed by an accomplice, according to Spanish outlet iPadizate
Three of the five employees in the theft allegation were arrested on leaving work, the fourth person was picked up at work, while the fifth employee reportedly turned himself in to police voluntarily.
It was reported that the workers had ten iPhones in their possession, intended to be shipped using the same method. They were also said to be carrying a large number of stickers with IMEI numbers, seemingly torn from boxes to hamper the investigation.
Investigations are still ongoing, and it is believed that further arrests could be made.
There are increasing cases of theft of Apple products in recent times. In March this year, it was reported that 3 million euros worth of iPhones were stolen from Amsterdam’s Schipol airport, followed by theft of 530,000 euros worth of Apple Watches in May.
