$1.5M in iPad minis stolen from JFK airport in 'GoodFellas' style heist

A pair of thieves stole $1.5 million worth of Apple iPad minis from a building at New York's JFK airport that was also the site of a famous robbery in 1978.

Details of the valuable heist were revealed on Thursday by the New York Post. About 3,600 iPad minis that had just arrived from China were taken from one of the airport's cargo buildings.

That same building was the site of the 1978 Lufthansa heist in which $5 million in cash and $875,000 worth of jewelry were stolen — the largest cash robbery to ever occur on U.S. soil. That heist was featured in the 1990 film "GoodFellas" starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.

The incident occurred this Monday, just before midnight, when a pair of thieves reportedly used one of the airport's own forklifts to steal two pallets of iPad minis. Not all of the shipments were placed on the truck, as the arrival of an airport worker allegedly forced the duo to leave three pallets behind.

Because the thieves arrived with an official JFK forklift, it's been speculated that an airport employee may have let them into the area near Building 261 around 11 p.m., and also let them out after the iPad minis were stolen.

Apple's iPad mini has a starting price of $329 for a 16-gigabyte Wi-Fi-only model. The most expensive option is the 64-gigabyte version with cellular data, which sells for $659.