With the new Apple iPad Mini all over the consumer market, it’s no surprise that it has attracted the eye of several criminal organizations. While it may not be the best of Apple’s tablets to release, it’s certainly got a nice price tag as of late. Taking note to that, a New York Post reports that 3600 iPad Minis were stolen from the JFK airport on November 15^th 2012. Yes, you heard that right.

Lets do the math for a second. An iPad Mini can currently sell anywhere from $329 – $529 depending on the size of the internal storage. Multiply that by 3,600, and you got yourself about $1.5 million dollars. As ridiculously high of a number that is, it seems to be the estimated price for the stolen goods. The New York Post also reports that this was only a fraction of the intended iPad Minis the thieves planned on stealing. Because of an encounter with an airport worker returning from break, they left behind 3 palettes full of iPads that would have more than doubled their profit. The job seems to have been pulled off by only two guys, which is why authorities now believe it was an inside job.

Update**

This is where it gets interesting. Initially, no suspects were found, but it’s now being reported by the NYP that they do indeed have someone in question. One of the airport workers is accused of being the mastermind behind the heist, when he made “suspicious inquiries” regarding the locations of where the forklifts could be found. Forklifts that just happened to be the ones used to transport the stolen iPad Minis.

Renel Richardson was allegedly a third member of the heist whom acted as a lookout, making sure his two helpers successfully completed the job.  After being arrested, Richardson accompanied detectives as they searched Long Island for the getaway vehicle that may or may not still house Apple’s latest tablets. As of today, it is unclear whether these iPad Minis will be found, but given the successful apprehension of the mastermind, it seems they will eventually get to the bottom of this.

I just find it amazing that things like this can actually happen. 3600 stolen iPad Minis is just an insane amount of goods for 3 people to successfully steal.  It only adds to the controversy regarding airport security. If I were them I would have stolen 5 and called it a day. Well, maybe I’d just be a terrible burglar.