Edible Apple

The New York Post is reporting that the NYPD recently nabbed 141 merchants –  from newsstands to barbershops – for purchasing what they believed to be stolen iPhones and iPads.

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.

The sting — which nabbed clerks and workers at businesses such as supermarkets, barbershops, pawnshops and bodegas — began Tuesday and continued through yesterday.

Oddly enough, this is somewhat similar to the way law enforcement agencies sometimes try and curb prostitution by going after the Johns. Here, the NYPD is trying to create a cloud of skepticism and ‘better judgement’ for folks who are offered Apple devices at prices that are too good to be true, and in the above example, are openly advertised as stolen. What’s more, many of these purchases aren’t made for personal use, but rather to turn a profit on eBay where vendors can earn up to a 200% return by hocking these stolen goods.

In any event, authorities are clearly hoping to deincentivize the number of iPhone thefts which has contributed to an “uptick in grand larcenies this year.”

via NY Post