The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona revealed this week that eleven individuals have been charged with taking Nike shoes valued at over $440,000 off a BNSF train that was passing through northern Arizona.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, on February 11, a grand jury returned the indictment against Noe Cecena-Castro and ten other defendants, accusing them of having $440,000 worth of stolen Nike shoes.
The grand jury returned charges against six defendants for Improper Entry by Alien and three defendants for Re-entry of Removed Alien in addition to the accusation of possessing stolen items.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Cecena-Castro is one of nine Mexican nationals among the 11 defendants.
According to court documents, Cecena-Castro and ten other people were taken into custody on January 13th for their roles in the Nike train heist.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a cut air hose in Perrin, Arizona, caused a BNSF train to stop at approximately 11 a.m. local time. A BNSF police officer noticed multiple Nike shoe cases next to the train shortly after the emergency stop.
Nearby, several individuals were seen packing Nike cases into a Ford Econoline truck and a U-Haul truck.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, when police located and inspected both trucks, they discovered 1,985 pairs of unreleased Nike sneakers, valued at over $440,000.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, all 11 suspects are being held in federal jail as they await trial. On February 19, the defendants will be arraigned on the charges.
Gas Prices in California Rapidly Approaching $5 Per Gallon – Drivers Feel the Pinch
Increase in train heists
Following a series of train thefts from northern Arizona and California over the previous 15 years, with a noticeable spike in the last two years, the indictment was filed.
The suspects frequently belong to transnational theft organizations that have their headquarters in Sinaloa, Mexico, and operate out of California and Arizona, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Department.
After a deputy from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office responded to a complaint of a train burglary in October 2024 and pursued four automobiles for miles along Interstate 40, two people were taken into custody. Just north of the Phoenix metropolitan region is Yavapai County.
Several Nike sneaker cases were seen stacked alongside the tracks near Yampai, west of Williams on Route 66, by a passing BNSF train in December of that year. The crates were confiscated, and four U.S. citizens were charged with possession of stolen items.
Train robberies involving ports in Long Beach, California, and Los Angeles increased in 2022. Union Pacific, one of the biggest railroads in the nation, reported that they had witnessed thefts and damages totaling over $5 million and that, on average, over 90 freight containers are plundered every day.
In order to influence where trains carrying important cargo halt, the heists usually entail cutting air hoses. This risky technique has been employed by criminal groups that specialize in train theft to derail cargo trains, some of which are moving at up to 70 mph.
Las Vegas Woman Convicted of Fraud for Falsifying COVID-19 Tax Credit Applications
In order to execute a train theft, this strategy requires several procedures and distinct crews. One crew unloads the goods onto the ground beside the rails once the train stops at a designated spot and breaks into designated container cars.
The stolen products are then loaded onto box trucks or other cargo vehicles and driven to the spot by another team. From there, they are transported to California and sold online.
