Nearly 4,000 iPhones Disappear in $3 Million Heist

Belgian newspaper De Standaard reports [Google translation] on the theft over the weekend of nearly 4,000 iPhones from a Willebroek warehouse of CEVA Logistics, a distribution company. The iPhones had been destined to be delivered to Mobistar, the sole official iPhone wireless provider in the country, and have been valued at approximately 2 million Euro or nearly $3 million.

Reports suggest that the burglary may have been an inside job, as the thieves used a fire ladder to access the roof of the large warehouse, where they cut a hole directly over where the iPhones, which had just been delivered to the building, were being stored. Mobistar notes that the devices have been blocked from the company's network, urging customers to be wary of purchasing iPhones through unauthorized sources.

"We have the serial numbers of stolen iPhones block[ed] anyway so they can not be used," says the spokesperson of Mobistar. "[For] people who want to buy an iPhone, [it] is best done in an approved outlet and not on street or on the black market."

Local police have launched an investigation into the burglary, but appear to have little information to go on at the moment.