Two people have been arrested after investigators claim additional Nike shoes were stolen during a rail robbery in northern Arizona.
Last week, the Arizona Department of Public Safety reported a train robbery on Interstate 40 between Kingman and Williams.
“State Troopers located one of the involved vehicles and arrested the driver,” the department said. “Federal law enforcement agents located a second vehicle and a suspect and arrested them as well.”
The DPS reports that they booked both suspects into jail and loaded their vehicles with stolen Nike shoes.
Authorities believe an organized crime ring is targeting trains, as reports of stolen Nike sneakers worth millions of dollars have come from Arizona and California.
A police chase resulted in the arrest of three individuals accused of stealing a train in northern Arizona last month.
What they’re saying: “Investigators have found ties to the Mexican cartel. On January 30 of this year, over $440,000 of Nike shoes were stolen off of a BNSF train. Air brakes were cut as it traveled on tracks north of Phoenix, Arizona. Federal officials have linked this to a federal cartel operating in Sinaloa,” Indiana Senator Todd Young said.
At this point, they had stolen an estimated $2 million.
We spoke with CargoNet, the federal government’s lead on theft statistics.
“The bad guys are good at a few different things. One of them is return on investment. They have found a niche. They have found a sweet spot. They found the hole in the fence,” Keith Lewis, CargoNet’s vice president of operations, said.
He claims there has to be inside information.
The Association of American Railroads expects that there will be 65,000 rail thefts in the United States alone in 2024. That’s a 40% increase from previous years.
“It’s quite frightening because you’re there alone, unarmed. You have really no defense.” Hopefully, they get what they want and leave you alone,” said Steven Thomas, a BNSF locomotive engineer.
According to a US Senate Subcommittee, the continuous theft will impact both consumers and the American supply chain.
