EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Four people are facing federal felony charges after allegedly being caught with hundreds of Nike shoes stolen from cargo trains in Arizona.
The arrest of Anthony “Buffy” Conditt and Diego Melchor Cruz came after a box truck allegedly struck two Flagstaff, Arizona, police vehicles in a tunnel leading to Interstate 40.
Sinaloa cartel targeting cargo trains in US
Dominique Meade and Jessica Rodriguez, two California residents, were arrested a day earlier near Ash Fork, Arizona, after sheriff’s deputies who had been alerted to the theft of a cargo train noticed boxes of shoes visible inside a Chevrolet cargo van driving with no license plate light, court records show.
The arrests coincide with a spike of merchandise thefts from cargo trains authorities attribute to criminal organizations in Sinaloa, Mexico, with extensive connections to individuals in Arizona and California.
The gangs target trains they believe transport electronics, tools or high-value apparel or shoes, according to Homeland Security Investigations. The criminals send associates to find a way to stop the train and open containers with bolt cutters. They hire others to follow the trains on motor vehicles and pick up stolen merchandise once it is taken off the train, HSI said in court filings.
CBP seizes fake jewelry with ‘suggested’ price of $9M
On Tuesday, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train came to a stop on tracks north of Ash Fork due to railroad traffic. Operators of the passing train observed several individuals offloading boxes from the train making a stop, as well as three vehicles gathering near the tracks…