The deserts of California and Arizona have become the backdrop for a series of bold freight train heists, with thieves escaping with over $2 million worth of Nike sneakers, including models that have yet to be released. A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Phoenix detailed a January 13 incident where suspects disabled a BNSF freight train using an air brake hose, making off with more than 1,900 pairs of unreleased Nikes valued at $440,000, including Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s which are pegged to retail at $225 a pop, as per reports from AP and FOX 10 Phoenix.
Moving along the isolated stretches of the Mojave Desert, these purported train robbers, they have focused on rail lines that track Interstate 40, officials and court documents indicate. Keith Lewis, Vice President of Operations at Verisk’s CargoNet and a deputy sheriff in Arizona, shared in the AP report that these crimes are sometimes facilitated by insiders at warehouses or trucking companies who provide intelligence on high-value shipments. The suspects arrested in connection with the robberies hail from varying backgrounds, with ten being Mexican nationals in the U.S. illegally and the remaining stemming from one in asylum proceedings in the country.
Investigators have linked at least ten robberies to this pattern over the past year, with the majority targeting BNSF railways. According to FOX 10 Phoenix, one of the heists on January 14 resulted in the theft of 1,900 pairs of shoes, many of which were exclusive, not yet released Air Jordans. Suspects are believed to board the trains when they slow for track changes and escape with the loot, using follow vehicles to evade capture and assist in the shipment of stolen goods…