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A brazen series of at least 10 train heists have resulted in the theft of almost 2,000 pairs of Nike sneakers worth around $2 million. The string of Nike sneaker thefts all took place as the trains traveled through the deserts of California and Arizona.
According to a Los Angeles Times report, the sneaker thieves have been targeting BNSF trains in California and Arizona since last March. The way they allegedly do it is by boarding eastbound freight trains, wait until the trains hit remote desert locations in the West, then cut an air brake hose, forcing the train to make an emergency stop. The stolen sneakers are then loaded into box trucks or stashed in nearby brush until the trucks can arrive.
In January, the thieves walked off with 1,985 pairs of unreleased Nike sneakers worth more than $440,000, including several pairs of Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s, which aren’t scheduled to be released to the public until March 14. In November 2024, Sheriff’s deputies in Mohave County in Arizona stopped a white panel van and found around 180 pairs of Air Jordan 11 Retro Legend Blue sneakers valued at $41,400, which had not been released to public yet. And in December 2024, investigators recovered about $48,000 worth of Nike Dunk Low Midnight Navy sneakers, also not yet released to the public at the time, near Yampai, Ariz.
Two other BNSF train burglaries in April and June of 2024 resulted in the theft of at least $346,200 worth of then-unreleased Nike Air Jordans. In another case, $436,000 worth of Nike merchandise was stolen from BNSF trains. Another 218 cases of Nike products worth $418,000 were recovered by investigators after a different train burglary.
On June 20, California local law enforcement agencies and Homeland Security agents executed search warrants at 11 residences and 16 storage units related to the ongoing train burglaries, arresting 43 suspects and recovering from the storage units about $3 million worth of merchandise believed to have been stolen from BNSF trains, according to the complaint. More merchandise — including numerous boxes of stolen Nike shoes — were allegedly recovered from the home of a woman who said she had a romantic relationship with Avalos-Mejia, the complaint states.
The thefts even continued after the man authorities have described as the ringleader of the sneaker theft ring, Felipe Arturo Avalos-Mejia, had been arrested and was in custody. At the location of his arrest, law enforcement found 74 cases of stolen Nikes, 108 packs of socks and 35 pairs of shoes worth about $94,659, and 10 stolen vehicles. He is scheduled to go to trial on charges of possessing or receiving goods stolen from interstate shipment this coming June.