The Secret World of Stolen Smartphones, Where Business Is Booming

In late May of 2012, a damaged package split open at a FedEx facility in Rancho Cordova, California, spilling dozens of boxed iPhones across the shipping room floor. A worker there contacted Apple, which, with the help of corporate security at Verizon, confirmed what FedEx personnel already suspected: The devices were contraband, likely bound for the black market.