Nike shoe heist: Thieves target US freight trains to steal $3.1 million worth of high-end sneakers

Thieves have targeted freight trains in the deserts of California and Arizona in a string of audacious heists resulting in the theft of more than $US2 million ($A3.1 million) worth of new Nike sneakers.

Many of the sneakers are exclusive models that haven’t yet hit the retail market, according to US officials and court documents.

In a January 13 robbery, suspects cut an air brake hose on a BNSF freight train travelling through a remote section of Arizona and made off with more than 1,900 pairs of unreleased Nikes worth more than $US440,000 ($A692,000), according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Phoenix.

Many of the shoes were Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4s, which won’t be available to the public until March 14 and are expected to retail at $US225 ($A355) per pair, the complaint states.

It was one of at least 10 heists targeting BNSF trains in remote areas of the Mojave Desert since last March that authorities are investigating, the Los Angeles Times reported.

All but one resulted in the theft of Nike sneakers, according to investigators.

Eleven people were charged in the January 13 burglary with possessing or receiving goods stolen from interstate shipment.

All 11 have pleaded not guilty and were all ordered detained until trial. Ten are Mexicans who were in the United States illegally. Another defendant is a Mexican citizen who was in asylum proceedings in the United States, authorities said in court records.

The suspects in the January 13 heist were caught with the help of tracking devices that were inside some of the boxes, the complaint says.

In another case, a BNSF train came to an emergency stop near Hackberry, Arizona, on November 20 after it started losing air, according to a complaint filed in the Phoenix federal court.

Sheriff’s deputies in Mohave County stopped a white panel van seen leaving the area and found about 180 pairs of then-unreleased Air Jordan 11 Retro Legend Blue sneakers valued at $US41,400 ($A65,125), the complaint states.

Two other cases in which BNSF freight trains were burglarised near Kingman and Seligman, Arizona, last year resulted in the theft of $US612,000 ($A962,800) worth of Nikes and eight arrests, according to federal criminal complaints.

Thefts from cargo trains cost the nation’s six largest freight railroads more than $US100 million ($A157 million) last year because of a combination of the value of the stolen goods and the cost of repairs to railcars the thieves damaged, and the problem is getting worse in recent years as the thefts have become more organised and sophisticated.

The Association of American Railroads trade group estimates that the number of thefts jumped roughly 40 per cent last year to 65,000 nationwide.