Train robberies might sound like a thing from a sepia-toned Western film, but they still happen across Arizona. But nowadays, the targets aren’t banks or gold bars; they’re looking for boxes of sneakers.
According to the Association of American Railroads, there were more than 65,000 train thefts across North America in 2024, which is a nearly 40% jump from the year before.
Many of the robberies are happening in the southwest, where organized crews are hitting freight trains moving through rural areas.
In Arizona alone, there have been at least eight reported rail thefts in the past year. In April, state troopers arrested two people near Kingman who allegedly stole about $346,000 in Nike products from a freight car. A few weeks later, another theft in the same region netted more than $600,000 in goods. In November, 180 pairs of unreleased Air Jordans vanished in yet another heist.
These aren’t small-time operations. In February, the U.S. Department of Justice charged 11 people in connection with the theft of $440,000 in sneakers from a BNSF train near Perrin, Arizona.
Officials say the groups involved are part of larger, coordinated networks that use rail theft as a source of profit in a struggling economy.
While stealing sneakers may not seem to be more valuable than gold or jewels, these thieves are making off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in goods in a matter of minutes.
“They’re more sophisticated, they’re more targeted, and the value of the goods they’re stealing… It’s astronomical,” said Keith Lewis, VP of Operations for CargoNet, a company that tracks cargo theft across the U.S.
The strategy is bold. Lewis says thieves often receive tips about which containers and trains hold the most valuable items. They then pick remote stretches of track, often in the desert, where there’s a lower chance of being caught or seen.
In some cases, they stop trains moving at up to 70 miles per hour by cutting brake lines or tampering with emergency safety systems. Getaway vehicles follow behind, and once the train is halted, the group breaks into containers, loads up, and disappears.
“You’re talking about people stealing a quarter million dollars in sneakers in minutes,” said Lewis. “And they’re not traceable. There’s no serial numbers on a pair of sneakers, so once they’re off the train, it’s hard to prove they were stolen.”
Wilson Neloy, who owns the Phoenix resale shop Archive Arizona, says these incidents are making legitimate sellers more cautious.
“Everyone’s talking to one another,” he said. “Making sure they’re not buying stolen inventory, making sure they’re not under federal investigation. Because at the end of the day, we all want to make money — but we don’t want to go to prison.”
The rise in theft is having a ripple effect.
Rail security experts warn that consumers are indirectly footing the bill. Stolen goods drive up insurance rates and force companies to raise prices at the register.
“You and I are paying for this at the store,” said Lewis. “And that impact, especially right now with inflation, is significant.”
In February, leaders from the rail and logistics industries testified before Congress, urging lawmakers to act. They’re calling for stronger penalties, more federal enforcement, and better coordination between local and national agencies. Some want more secure train cars or onboard surveillance. Others simply want more help tracking where the stolen items go.
For now, though, the modern-day train robbery is alive and well in Arizona because while sneakers might not glint like gold, they’re just as good as treasure to some.
