Train robbers swipe $2m worth of Nikes in heists across California and Arizona | US news

Thieves targeted shipping trains that pass through deserts California Arizona in a series of bold theft that led to the theft of more than $ 2 million of new Nike shoes, including many who have not reached the retail market, according to officials and court documents.

In a robbery on January 13, the suspects cut the hose of the air brake on the BNSF freight train traveling through a department far from Arizona It kicks off with more than 1900 pairs of Nikes that has not worth more than $ 440,000, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Federal Court of Phoenix. Many shoes were Nightl Secesster X Air Jordan 4s, which will not be available to the public until March 14, and is expected to be sold for $ 225 per pair, according to the complaint.

This was one of at least 10 cylinders targeting BNSF trains in remote areas of the Mohafi Desert since last March in which the authorities have been investigating, the Los Angeles Times reported. Everyone except one resulted in theft Nike Sports shoes, according to the investigators.

Eleven people were charged on January 13 by owning or receiving stolen goods from the states. All 11 acknowledged that they were not guilty and they were all detained until the trial. Ten of Mexicans who were illegally in the United States. The authorities in the court records said that the other defendant was a Mexican citizen who was in asylum procedures in the United States.

Al -Shakawi says that the suspects in the theft of January 13 were arrested with the help of tracking devices that were inside some boxes.

In another case, the BNSF train arrived at the emergency station near Hakbeeri, Arizona, on November 20 after cutting the hose of the air brake, according to a complaint with the Federal Federal Court. Sheriff’s deputies in Mohafi County stopped a white car that was seen leaving the area and found about 180 pairs of Air Jordan 11 Retro Leagend Blue at $ 41400, according to the complaint.

Two other cases in which BNSF shipping trains were robbed near Kinsman and Selgman, Arizona, last year, a $ 612,000 steal of Nikes and eight arrests, according to federal criminal complaints.

The thieves usually explore the goods on the railways that are parallel to the states of 40 in parallel by climbing to slow moving trains, such as when they change the tracks and open the containers, said Keith Lewis, Vice -President of Operations at Verisk’s Cargonet and Vice -MP in Arizona. Lewis told the Los Angeles Times that thieves sometimes tend to be valuable shipments by partners working in stores or truck transport companies.

In another case, the authorities say that a Mexican man controls crews that surface trains had the scouts that will be provided on trains to target vehicles, provide paid crews, and easy to sell stolen goods.

The suspects are often assisted by the “vehicle follow -up” partners, which follow rail cars. The looting of the train is thrown after it is stopped – either for the scheduled station or because of the cutting of the air hose, according to Brynna Cooke, a special agent in the internal security who was martyred in written certificates presented in the Federal Court.

The theft caused by the cargo trains cost the six largest railway in the country more than $ 100 million in the past year due to a mixture of the value of stolen goods and the cost of repairs on the railway cars that have been affected by thieves, and the problem is getting worse in recent years, such as theft has become more organized and developed. The American Railways Group Association estimates that the number of thefts jumped about 40 % last year to 65,000 in the country.

In 2022, thieves raided the shipping containers on the trains approaching the city center of Los Angeles for several months, with packages of people throughout the United States and leaving the tracks covered with neglected boxes of elements that are not valuable enough to theft. Bold thefts pushed the authorities and shipping companies to increase security in the region. In 2015, the thieves stole 111 rifles after breaching the locks from a train in Chicago Raydard.

Millions railways have invested millions in measures to help prevent such thefts, but it is not possible to easily restrict access to more than 140,000 miles of the path they work all over the country. It crosses remote and rural areas and abandons the heart of many cities that carry millions of shipments of everything from bulk commodities such as charcoal and grains to raw materials such as rocks.

The railway trade group said that there is an additional federal enforcement and tougher penalties to deter thefts. Railways lines are estimated that only about one in 10 attempts at the theft lead to arrest, and many people who were arrested are repeated criminals. One of the railways even about the arrest of the same individual five times in one day.

BNSF and other major shipping railways that transport goods throughout the western United States, union Pacific, did not respond to investigations from Associated Press on thefts. BNSF said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that the internal police force is sharing information with local law enforcement and public prosecutors, as necessary.

The company said that its crews are asking to confront thieves, but rather to report accidents instead. But the crews rarely encounter them, because the trains are very long and thieves are keen to evade the disclosure.

The stealing of goods from trains, trucks and ships is a problem in freight centers throughout the country and the FBI focus. American migration and customs benefit estimates that the theft of goods at different points along the supply chain from ports to trains to trucks represent between 15 billion dollars and 35 billion dollars in losses every year. Many of the most organized collections target major shipping centers such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Memvis, Chicago and Atlanta.