After a three month operation, police have nabbed two men allegedly responsible for stealing hundreds of MacBooks and iPads from private schools across New South Wales. The haul was worth over $500,000, and over 20 different schools were targeted.
Strike Force Clementine was set up to catch the people responsible, and both yesterday morning and earlier this week police arrested two men in Sydney’s northwest. The men, police allege, were part of a syndicate that hit 22 private schools around New South Wales and stole more than 800 Apple laptops and tablets in 36 separate break-ins worth over $500,000.
Those MacBooks and iPads were then sold through online sales sites like eBay and Gumtree, as well as through pawn shops. Police have already seized 176 of the laptops and tablets from a single business in Kings Cross, but it’s not clear where the rest of the devices currently are. It seems the thieves specifically targeted private schools and Apple products, probably because of their relatively high resale value and popularity.
The two men have been charged with including aggravated breaking and entering and receiving or disposing of stolen property. [NSW Police]