Federal agents have indicted dozens of people for what they characterize as blatant thefts of train-loads of Nike shoes in California and northern Arizona.
Eleven people were charged with stealing nearly 2,000 pairs of Nike shoes, worth an estimated $440,000 in one recent case. Nine of the defendants were Mexican nationals in the U.S. illegally. Prosecutors say the thefts fit a recent pattern.
"We have charged about 35 people since November 2023 with train-theft related offenses," said Addison Owen, a section chief with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona.
In early January, a BNSF train was forced to an emergency stop when its air hose was cut north of Williams and cases of Nikes were lifted into trucks. In a December case, investigators charged four U.S. citizens with receiving stolen goods after they were found with pickup truck loads of previously unreleased Nike shoes.
"There appears to be an organized nature to it with individuals working together to coordinate and direct these thefts," Owen said.
Investigators note that some trains have been tailed since Southern California before they’re forced to a stop in northern Arizona.
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