Authorities say a man posing as a FedEx worker calmly walked into a Doral FedEx hub on March 19 and drove away with 38 boxes of brand new iPhone 17 Pro Max units, a stash investigators value at nearly $2 million. A few hours and a north Florida traffic stop later, that mountain of phones turned up in the back of a U-Haul, and a suspect was hauled off to jail. The man, identified in court records as 61-year-old Jeffery Moore, now faces felony charges in Miami-Dade.
How investigators say the theft worked
Investigators say the boxes held roughly 1,799 phones worth about $1.9 million and that the scheme started with a phone call and an email convincing FedEx staff that the high-value shipment would be picked up in person. On March 19, a man arrived at the Doral facility wearing what appeared to be a photo ID badge and an employee ID, and staff let him into the loading area. The crates were then loaded into a 20-foot U-Haul, according to NBC 6 South Florida.
Stop on I-75 and recovery
Later that day, Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Alachua County deputies pulled over a U-Haul on Interstate 75 northbound in Alachua County. In the back, they reported finding the stolen iPhone shipment stacked inside the truck. The driver was detained after matching the description given to investigators, WCJB says.
Charges and court status
Court records list Moore as a South Carolina resident. He was first booked into the Alachua County Jail, then extradited to Miami-Dade, where a judge set his bond at $2.5 million. He faces charges of grand theft, conspiracy to commit grand theft and engaging in an organized scheme to defraud, according to the arrest warrant and court filings reported by NBC 6 South Florida.
Why this matters
High-dollar cargo hits like this are part of what industry groups and law enforcement say is a growing headache for retailers and supply chains. Thieves are increasingly targeting electronics and leaning on low-tech social engineering tricks to walk off with entire shipments instead of shoplifting a few items at a time. The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports that cargo theft losses have climbed in recent years, and federal prosecutors have brought cases tied to multi-state cargo-theft rings. Both the NICB and the U.S. Department of Justice have detailed similar investigations and recoveries.
What local businesses should watch for…