Thieves have targeted freight trains running through the deserts of California and Arizona in a string of audacious heists resulting in the theft of more than $2m worth of new Nike sneakers, including many that haven’t hit the retail market yet, according to officials and court documents. In a 13 January robbery, suspects cut an air brake hose on a freight train traveling through a remote section of Arizona and made off with more than 1,900 pairs of unreleased Nikes worth more than $440,000, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Phoenix. Many of the shoes were Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s, which won’t be available to the public until 14 March and are expected to retail at $225 per pair, the Guardian reports. It was one of at least 10 heists targeting BNSF trains in remote areas of the Mojave desert since last March that authorities are investigating, the Los Angeles Times reported. All but one resulted in the theft of Nike sneakers, according to investigators. Eleven people were charged in the 13 January burglary with possessing or receiving goods stolen from interstate shipment. All 11 have pleaded not guilty and were all ordered detained until trial. Ten are Mexicans who were in the United States illegally. Another defendant is a Mexican citizen who was in asylum proceedings in the United States, authorities said in court records. The suspects in the 13 January heist were caught with the help of tracking devices that were inside some of the boxes, the complaint says.
In another case, a BNSF train came to an emergency stop near Hackberry, Arizona, on 20 November after its air brake hose was cut, according to a complaint filed in the Phoenix federal court. Sheriff’s deputies in Mohave county stopped a white panel van seen leaving the area and found about 180 pairs of then unreleased Air Jordan 11 Retro Legend Blue sneakers valued at $41,400, the complaint states. Two other cases in which BNSF freight trains were burglarized near Kingman and Seligman, Arizona, last year resulted in the theft of $612,000 worth of Nikes and eight arrests, according to federal criminal complaints. Thieves typically scout merchandise on rail lines that parallel Interstate 40 by boarding slow-moving trains, such as when they are changing tracks and opening containers, said Keith Lewis, vice-president of operations at Verisk’s CargoNet and a deputy sheriff in Arizona. Lewis told the LA Times that the thieves are sometimes tipped off to valuable shipments by associates working at warehouses or trucking companies. The suspects are often aided by accomplices in “follow vehicles”, which track the rail cars. The loot is tossed off the train after it comes to a halt – either for a scheduled stop or because an air hose has been cut, according to Brynna Cooke, a homeland security investigations special agent cited in affidavits filed in federal court.