Dutch police have arrested five men suspected of stealing €500,000 worth of iPhones from a moving truck in a dangerous late-night heist.
Dutch police said the five men, aged from 33 to 43 and all from Romania, allegedly raided a delivery truck full of iPhones using a modified van, by driving the van close enough to the delivery truck to allow one of the suspects to climb on to and break into the truck while it was being driven down a Dutch road.
The suspect then passed boxes of Apple iPhones from the delivery truck into the modified van through a hole in its roof.
Dutch police spokesman Ed Kraszewski said officers had long been investigating thefts from trucks, but had remained sceptical that such a heist could be pulled off. Not any more.
Mr Kraszewski said: "The truck was taking its freight from A to B and did not stop. Even so, [the phones] were gone. So it must have happened that way. And now we finally have the evidence, with the van and the loot."
Holiday park arrest
The five men were arrested at a holiday park in the central Netherlands on Saturday. Police also recovered the iPhones and the van they believe was used in the heist. The suspects are to appear on Tuesday before an investigating judge.
Mr Kraszewski said similar raids had been reported elsewhere in Europe, but that there had been no arrests until now.
Dutch police will send the fingerprints of the suspects to colleagues across Europe to check for potential matches in previous crimes.
Guardian service