Masked and armed thieves robbed up to $1.3 million in tech goods at the flagship Apple store in Paris on New Year's Eve. 

Police said Tuesday that the theft occurred at around 9 p.m. Monday, three hours after the store closed and at the same time that police gathered around the Champs-Elysees Avenue where people traditionally gather on New Year's Eve. Christophe Crepin, spokesperson for the UNSA police union, said the four masked and armed robbers were "well prepared" and had carefully chosen the time and place to carry out the operation.

The amount of goods stolen ranked up to 1 million euros, according to French press. The Apple store involved, which sells items such as the tech giant's iPhone and iPads, is located behind the Paris Opera house. It is one of two Apple store's in central Paris. The other is located in an underground mall connected to the Louvre.

CNN reported that the robbers forced their way through a service entrance into the store and used violence to intimidate store employees. Yahoo! noted that an Apple store cleaner and a security guard were slightly injured during the incident. The thieves then went "calmly" through boxes full of Apple products in the basement storeroom, looking for iPads, iPhones, and Mac laptops, according to Crepin. 

"They knew exactly what they were taking," he said, adding that the thieves focused on the merchandise in the storeroom and did not bother going after the devices on display inside the store. They then loaded the stolen items into a Mercedes van parked nearby and sped off. French authorities are still investigating the robbery and more details are expected to surface soon.

Apple products have been the target of many thieves recently. Police arrested a Transportation Security Administration agent Dec. 4 for stealing iPads and other electronic devices from travelers passing through New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. The TSA baggage scanner took the devices out of passenger's bags as they passed through airport security tests.

A different TSA agent was arrested earlier in December after a Continental Airline employee saw him take an iPad out of a person's luggage and hide it in his pants in a Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport terminal.

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