Three men are accused of having robbed a delivery truck of Apple products, stealing $1.2 million on January 3, 2026. The federal indictment was made public on May 7.
A Morning Heist Outside the Manhasset Apple Store
It is around 8 a.m. on January 3, 2026, in front of the Apple Store at Americana Manhasset, a shopping mall on Long Island (New York). Two delivery drivers are finishing preparing a shipment containing MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and various accessories, with a total value exceeding $1.2 million. In a few moments, their ordinary morning turns into violence.
According to the official statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York (USAO-EDNY), three individuals armed with handguns approach the two employees. One of them is forced to lie down in the back of the truck, his hands bound with zip ties. The other is ordered to take the wheel and drive the vehicle to an isolated area behind an office building on Northern Boulevard in Manhasset. Once there, the second delivery driver is in turn immobilized in the back.
A Home Depot rental truck, previously reserved by one of the suspects with a fake driver's license from Pennsylvania, is already waiting at the scene. The three men transfer all the merchandise from one vehicle to the other, close the door of the delivery truck with the victims inside, and then flee. One of them manages to free himself and calls 911.
Careful Planning, Damaging Traces
After the incident, the stolen merchandise is transported to New Jersey, to a self-storage warehouse in Paterson. According to the official statement from the USAO-EDNY, the establishment's surveillance cameras filmed two of the suspects, Michael Mejia-Nunez and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla, renting a storage unit to transfer the products from the Home Depot truck to a U-Haul truck and another vehicle driven by an accomplice not yet identified in the indictment.
The Home Depot truck was abandoned in the Bronx and found by law enforcement on January 5, 2026, two days after the incident. Inside, investigators discovered a crucial piece of evidence: the fingerprints of Alan Christhofer Cedeno-Ferrer on a copy of the rental agreement. Furthermore, the official statement from the USAO-EDNY specifies that Cedeno-Ferrer activated two of the stolen Apple Watches in the days following the robbery, thus contributing to his identification.
The investigation involved the FBI, the Nassau County Police, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office (New Jersey), and the New York Police Department. The three suspects were indicted on May 7, 2026, in the federal court in Central Islip, New York.
Indicted for Stealing Apple Products, Three Men Face 30 Years in Prison
The indictment includes three charges: robbery under the Hobbs Act (a U.S. federal law targeting criminal acts affecting interstate commerce), conspiracy to commit this robbery, and interstate transport of stolen goodsIf the defendants are found guilty, they each face up to 30 years in prison.
"These defendants committed a violent and brazen daytime robbery that terrorized the victims and endangered the public at one of the most popular shopping centers on Long Island," said Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in an official statement. (As alleged, these defendants committed a violent and brazen daytime robbery that terrorized the victims and endangered the public at one of the most popular shopping centers on Long Island.)
James C. Barnacle Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's New York Field Office, also reacted in the same official statement: "The defendants allegedly held two innocent employees at gunpoint before hijacking and robbing their delivery truck out of selfish greed. The FBI remains in lockstep with our local law enforcement partners to stop violent criminals from wreaking havoc on our communities." (The defendants allegedly held two innocent employees at gunpoint before hijacking and robbing their delivery truck out of selfish greed. The FBI remains in lockstep with our local law enforcement partners to stop violent criminals from wreaking havoc on our communities.)
This case illustrates a well-documented reality: Apple products are prime targets for organized fencing networks. Their high unit value, liquidity on the secondary market, and ease of transport make them particularly attractive merchandise. The activation of the stolen watches by one of the suspects, despite the obvious risk of identification, reveals a lack of understanding of the traceability mechanisms integrated into Apple devices, particularly the activation linked to an Apple ID. It is precisely this mistake that provided investigators with a valuable lead.
Apple's supply chain, which relies on third-party transport providers to supply its stores, remains exposed to this type of planned operation. This case could reignite the debate on security protocols governing the delivery of high-value merchandise to Apple Stores, especially in dense commercial areas. The defendants, Alan Christhofer Cedeno-Ferrer (27, Bronx), Michael Mejia-Nunez (29, New York), and Ennait Alexis Sirett-Padilla (24, New York), are presumed innocent until their guilt is established by a court.
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