FORT WORTH, TEXAS
Gangs of illegal immigrant thieves stole Nike sneakers collectively worth over $2 million in months-long freight train heists across California and Arizona, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
The thieves sabotaged and robbed the freight trains at least 10 times from March 2024 to Jan. 13, 2025, stealing the pricey sneakers in nine of the 10 incidents, despite the arrest of a ringleader, according to the outlet.
The thieves allegedly cut an air brake hose on a BNSF freight train in Perrin, Arizona, Jan. 13, forcing the railcars to an emergency stop, and carted away 1,985 pairs of Nikes worth more than $440,000, the outlet reported, citing a federal criminal complaint. Law enforcement tracked down and arrested eleven people, and accused them of the crime. Nine of them reportedly were Mexican nationals illegally present in the U.S. Five of the 11 reportedly pleaded not guilty while the remaining six have not yet entered pleas.
Many of the stolen footwear reportedly were Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s, which are not set to be officially released to the public until March 14, with each pair estimated to cost $225. (RELATED: Store Owner Mystified As Thieves Caught On Video Taking Hundreds Of Shoes In Weirdest Way)
Sheriff’s deputies in Mohave County intercepted a van leaving an area near Hackberry, Arizona, Nov. 20, where a BNSF train had suddenly stopped as it was losing air pressure, the outlet reported, citing a separate complaint. The van was laden with about 180 pairs of then-unreleased Air Jordan 11 Retro Legend Blue sneakers estimated to cost $41,400. The driver pleaded not guilty.
Investigators seized then-unreleased Nike Dunk Low Midnight Navy sneakers in another train heist Dec. 6 near Yampaz, Arizona. The sneakers were valued at about $48,000. Four persons were arrested. Three pleaded not guilty but one of them appears prepared to plead guilty. The fourth has not yet entered a plea, the outlet reported.
Thieves stole Nike Air Jordans worth $346,200 in more Arizona train heists in April and June, according to authorities. The sneakers had not yet been released at the time. Investigators recovered them.
Authorities reportedly arrested Felipe Arturo “Pollo” Avalos-Mejia on June 21 and accused him of being the ringleader of such crimes and involved in them for over 11 years. They allegedly found shoes worth over $94,000 at a location from which he initially fled before his arrest. They also allegedly found numerous shoes with his girlfriend. They arrested 43 suspects and recovered about $3 million worth of apparently stolen merchandise from 16 storage units in California on June 20.
Avalos-Mejia pleaded not guilty and will be tried in June. The crimes reportedly went on regardless of his arrest.
Eight people were arrested in connection with the theft of $612,000 worth of Nikes in two other cases in Arizona in 2024. Five defendants plead not guilty, the outlet reported.
Nike merchandise worth $436,000 was reportedly stolen in two train heists in the ghost town of Amboy in California’s Mohave Desert.
The thieves reportedly sometimes learn of valuable consignments through accomplices working at warehouses or trucking companies and then track and board the freight trains before robbing them, or cut through containers holding the goods. They then transfer the goods to waiting vehicles.
Mexican members of transnational criminal cartels, such as the Sinaloa cartel, are often responsible for the heists, the outlet reported, citing Homeland Security Investigations special agent Brynna Cooke.
The thieves often escape detection in part because the trains are very long, and railroad cargo thefts often go underreported despite costing the largest rail companies in the U.S. more than $100 million, according to the outlet.
Some of the stolen merchandise reportedly wind up in California and on Amazon and eBay despite the platforms’ statements of zero tolerance for criminal acts and cooperation with law enforcement agents against sellers of stolen goods.
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