Task Force seizes iPhones, iPads during traffic stop
Published 10:21 am Friday, November 15, 2013
The 17th Judicial Drug Task Force seized several boxes full of counterfeit Apple products in a traffic stop on Interstate 20/59 in Greene County recently.
Francesco Deluca, 29, of Napoli, Italy, and Roberto Junior Volpe, 31, of Miami, Fla., were arrested during the stop and are both being held on $300,000 bond at the Greene County Jail.
The 17th Judicial Drug Task Force seized 278 counterfeit iPhones during a traffic stop.
Task Force Commander Clint Sumlin said 278 counterfeit iPhone 5’s and six counterfeit iPad Minis were seized during the stop. The two men were also carrying a little more than $30,000 in cash at the time of the stop.
“After speaking with an Apple representative, we estimated the counterfeit items to be worth at least $172,000, and that’s on the low end,” Sumlin said.
The task force seized multiple boxes full of counterfeit iPhones.
Sumlin said the case has been turned over to the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service.
The 17th Judicial Drug Task Force was started by District Attorney Greg Griggers in 2011. In addition to traffic enforcement, the Task Force also actively conducts undercover operations to stop drug trafficking and distribution in Marengo, Sumter and Greene counties.
Six iPads were also seized during the stop.
