Thieves targeting freight trains have again made national headlines after more than $2 million worth of new Nike sneakers were stolen from trains in California and Arizona.
A common method for these modern day train robberies involves cutting air hoses to force trains carrying valuable cargo to stop in a specific location, usually in remote areas such as the Mojave Desert. The sophisticated attacks involve spies to target trains carrying specific cargo, thieves to cut the air hoses and rob the trains, and accomplices to drive away box trucks or other cargo vehicles loaded with the stolen goods. The pirated merchandise is usually sold online.
In a statement, BNSF said its crews are instructed not to confront thieves, but to report the incidents instead. However, train crews rarely encounter the thieves because the trains are so long.
These 2025 robberies come after extensive national reporting on the issue last year. The New York Times Magazine published a lengthy story in January 2024 that quotes BLET National President Eddie Hall. President Hall told the Times that during his 28 years as a locomotive engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad out of El Paso, Texas, and mostly Tucson, Ariz., he regularly passed stopped trains and saw people climbing up ladders or loading cargo into their trucks pulled up alongside the tracks. “Between L.A. and Tucson is where I know a lot of theft happens,” Hall said.
The 2024 New York Times Magazine story can be read here.
ABC News did a story on train robbers targeting Nike sneakers. That story can be viewed here.
BNSF photo: Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659