SALON

Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 6:03 PM UTC

The Department of iPhone Security

Claiming issues of "public safety" are involved, ICE agents help Apple bust South Florida smartphone repair shops

By

Topics: Apple, iPhone, Smartphone, smartphone repair, ICE, dhs, Homeland Security, south florida,

The Department of iPhone Security (Credit: Reuters Graphics)

A South Florida TV news station is reporting that over the last few months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been raiding local smartphone repair shops and seizing counterfeit Apple parts. As many as 25 shops have been raided and “between $250,000 and $300,000 in counterfeit Apple parts” have been confiscated. In the case of at least one of the raids, the owner of a repair shop claimed that the ICE agents were accompanied by Apple representatives.

“It’s a wide investigation that is multi-state. We are looking at whole industry spectrum of repair shops that are using substandard products,” said Gerard O’Neill, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Miami Field Office for Homeland Security.

O’Neill says it’s a public safety issue and that is how Homeland Security is involved.

He says consumers have be hurt by overheating phones that were repaired using counterfeit parts.

“There are trademark and licensing violations as well,” he added.

According to Abel Abella, the proprietor of one of the raided repair shops, “20 ICE agents and two people from Apple came to his store.”

The Local10 news story doesn’t provide dates for any of the raids, but judging by Abel Abella’s Twitter timeline, his operation was hit sometime in early December. In November, Abella was tweeting before-and-after pictures of a fixed iPad. On Dec. 13, he posted a message to his customers on Facebook announcing that he was no longer repairing Apple products.

A job well done by Apple! Successful employment of the mighty force of the U.S. government’s Department of Homeland Security to wipe out competition and ensure that Apple customers pay through the nose at Apple-certified repair shops! But the news also raises some questions: Why are counterfeit Apple parts a job for Immigration and Customs Enforcement? Why are Apple employees accompanying law enforcement on raids? And who could possibly believe that “public safety” concerns related to overheating phone parts justify a massive federal government operation on behalf of one corporation?

Andrew Leonard

Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21. More Andrew Leonard.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 8 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username - log out

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Would we give up burgers to stop climate change? New study suggests if we reduce our intake of animal products by 25%, we can halt climate change
391 points392 points | 132 comments
vote
Facebook has been used to find ex-lovers, childhood BFFs or the one who got away. He used it to find the guy who, without his consent, made him his drug mule.
224 points225 points | 21 comments
vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
131 points132 points | 53 comments
vote
Poll: 3 in 10 voters say “armed revolution might be necessary” - 29% say they believe they'll have to act "in order to protect our liberties" in the next few years
46 points47 points | 16 comments
vote
Capitalism, not feminism, killed home cooking–and fixing our broken food system is gonna take a lot more than some privileged women embracing “new domesticity”
34 points35 points | 19 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations