Organized criminal gangs have carried out a series of sophisticated train heists targeting BNSF freight trains in the Mojave Desert along the California-Arizona corridor. The thieves have targeted double-stack container cars, specifically containers carrying high-value Nike sneakers.
Los Angeles Times reported thieves stealthily boarded eastbound freight trains in the lonely stretches of the Mojave Desert at least ten times and stole millions of dollars in sneakers and other goods since last March. Nike sneaker thefts have topped $2 million.
Here’s more from the report:
New sneaker releases may have touched off at least some of the recent incidents. In Perrin, Ariz., thieves allegedly cut an air brake hose on a BNSF freight train on Jan. 13 and unloaded 1,985 pairs of unreleased Nikes worth more than $440,000, according to a criminal complaint filed in US District Court in Phoenix. Many were Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s, which won’t be available to the public until March 14 and are expected to retail at $225 per pair, the complaint states.
Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at Verisk’s CargoNet and a deputy sheriff in Arizona, explained to the newspaper how the whole theft operation works:
Theft crews typically scout high-value merchandise on rail lines that parallel Interstate 40 by boarding slow-moving trains, such as when they are changing tracks and opening containers.
Lewis said the thieves are sometimes tipped off to valuable shipments by confederates working at warehouses or trucking companies. Other times they simply look for containers with high-security locks, which they cut with reciprocating saws or bolt cutters, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent said in affidavits filed in federal court.
Once the desired loot is found, the thieves alert “follow vehicles,” which track the train. The stolen goods are tossed off the train after it comes to a halt — either for a scheduled stop or because an air hose has been cut or control wires inside signal boxes have been sabotaged, said the federal agent, Brynna Cooke.
The cargo is then loaded into box trucks, or hidden in nearby brush until they arrive — provided the surveillance crews that are following the train don’t detect law enforcement, Cooke said. These tactics are often employed by transnational criminal groups that consist primarily of Mexican citizens from Sinaloa, she said.
The latest figures from the Association of American Railroads show that railroad thefts surged to 65,000 in 2024, a 40% increase from the previous year, costing major railroads $100 million.
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