Apple Store in Paris Loses $1.3 Million to Masked Gunmen in Brazen New Year's Eve Heist

The flagship Apple retail store in Paris has been robbed by masked gunmen in a brazen burglary on New Year's Eve, making off with around $1.3 million worth of goods.

The thieves, whom police described as "well-informed," entered through a service entrance in the building, which is located in the heart of the city behind the Paris Opera House.

The operation took place at 9 p.m. local time, three hours after the store had closed, while most of the city's police officers were busy handling crowds on Champs-Elysees Avenue, the traditional New Year's celebration spot in Paris.

The burglars roughed up some of the Apple store employees before calmly sorting through the storage areas and loading up iPads, iPhones and laptops into a Mercedes van parked nearby.

"They knew exactly what they were taking," said Christophe Crepin, a spokesman for UNSA, a police union.

As technology becomes smaller and more portable, thieves have turned to less traditional means of theft.

Instead of grabbing a wallet, which now usually contains traceable credit cards rather than cash, pickpockets, muggers and thieves nab expensive tech, like smartphones and laptops that can be quickly and easily resold to people who want the latest gadget and don't much care where it came from.

Even people thinking they are getting a great deal and buying from a legitimate reseller may actually be purchasing stolen goods, but there are few ways to track the items once they're gone, and most of those can be circumvented by simply wiping the memory.

According to Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, crime rates were actually down for 2012, if the rash of snatched Apple products isn't taken into account.

"In general the more you paid for a gadget the more interest it will be to street robbers," said a spokesperson for London's Metropolitan Police.

"Victims now are far less likely to be a bashed-up pensioner," he said, "and more likely to be a young professional who has had a phone grabbed out of their hand or pocket."

More by I-Hsien Sherwood