Latest news with #TurtleBeachStealthPro
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Yahoo
Train Heists Surge As Thieves Target Sneakers And Electronics
Everything comes back around these days, with flared jeans on the up, Oasis reforming after a few decades away and now, great train robberies are gaining popularity once again. That's right, old fashioned train heists are back with more than $4 million worth of goods stolen from a single freight train operator in California over less than two years. Thieves in California regularly target the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail operator, which carries freight through the state, reports Business Insider. Groups are reportedly boarding trains with saws, bolt-cutters and other tools to crack open cases of valuable goods like footwear, tools and electronics. The attacks on freight trains have hit everything from Turtle Beach Stealth Pro headsets to "Nightmare Before Christmas" toys, and that's just the goods that authorities have been able to recover. In total, authorities estimate that the BNSF railroad alone had more than $4 million worth of goods swiped from its trains since 2023. Read more: Alleged Horse-And-Buggy Thief In Way More Trouble Than If She Had Just Stolen A Car Gangs reportedly target freight trains when they are headed eastbound from California's Interstate 40, reports Outside. Once they're onboard, crews of thieves get to work locating and stealing the goods: Once thieves know the location of cargo, they board the train when it's stopped. Due to the size of freight trains, security guards can't patrol the entire vehicle, Lewis said. And train drivers are unarmed. Once crooks find the shipping containers, they cut the locks off with grinders or bolt cutters. Then, they toss the cargo to the ground, hide it in the underbrush, and wait for a follow car to pick it up. Once a haul is stashed away, it's either picked up by a following truck that's being used by the criminals, or it's collected by law enforcement. Officers in California have unearthed stolen goods lining railroads, and placed trackers in some goods loaded onto trains to follow them once they are swiped. Authorities in California have arrested 11 people in connection with robberies on the railways so far this year. In many instances, the groups hitting BNSF trains had "apparent links" to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, which is an organized-crime group formerly led by drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. With organized crime hitting its trains, BNSF is taking action to protect its staff and reputation. In a statement shared with Outside, the operator said it had "robust security protocols" in place on trains it operated. "We work hard to protect our customers' freight from pickup to delivery and have security measures in place to help ensure these goods arrive safely," the company added. "We are working with federal, state, local, and tribal police departments to coordinate our approach to disrupting criminal activity and arresting offenders." Despite this hardline stance against train robberies, attacks on freight trains in America are on the rise and they aren't just hitting BNSF and its trains in California. Across the country, BI reports that cargo thefts cost rail operators more than $100 million in 2024 after railroads were hit with more than 65,000 thefts over the 12-month period. Hits on railroads in 2024 were up by around 40 percent compared with 2023, industry groups told the site. Despite the eye-watering value of goods lost on the railroad, operators like BNSF still bank their fair share. Last year, the operator generated nearly $24 billion in revenue and about $5 billion in net income, adds Business Insider. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Warren Buffett's railroad is dealing with a surge in train robberies. Yes, train robberies.
Warren Buffett's railroad has been hit by thieves who've looted more than $4 million of merchandise. They've stolen Nike sneakers, Turtle Beach gaming headsets, and Squishmallows, court filings show. Organized crime groups board BNSF trains, break open locked containers, and force emergency stops. Warren Buffett's railroad company is being targeted by thieves who've made off with sneakers, gaming headsets, and other merchandise worth more than $4 million in the past two years, federal authorities say. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, has been hit repeatedly by gangs with apparent links to the Sinaloa Cartel, the Mexican organized-crime group formerly led by drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. The heists primarily occur in the southwestern US and have surged since 2023, according to multiple complaints filed in Phoenix federal court. The crime spree was first reported by the Los Angeles Times. The train robbers identify high-security containers on eastbound BNSF trains from California's Interstate 40. They board and use saws, bolt-cutters, and other tools to break into the boxes and gain access to expensive footwear, tools, and electronics. Next, they cut the train's braking system air hose to force the driver to make an emergency stop. Then, they pull the products off the train and hide them nearby for their colleagues to load into box trucks at a later point. The merch is then hauled off to be sold or fenced to resellers, court filings show. On January 13, a BNSF police officer spotted boxes containing more than 1,000 pairs of Nike shoes next to the rail tracks and worked with authorities to place trackers in four of them. Officials later recovered 150 cases of Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4 "Brick by Brick" worth an estimated $202,500 in a nearby van and also stopped a U-Haul containing shoes worth tens of thousands of dollars more. The shoe model was scheduled for release on March 14. In April 2024, police recovered nearly 1,200 pairs of Nike shoes worth about $226,000. Two months later, they took down an alleged gang leader and reclaimed $3 million worth of merchandise believed to have been taken from BNSF trains. The items were found in storage units and residential homes and included 74 cases of Nike shoes and 108 packs of Nike socks. In July 2023, authorities recovered 904 boxes of Turtle Beach Stealth Pro headsets, worth almost $600,000, which had been loaded into a landscaping truck and stashed in a nearby Motel 6. Filings show that in other seizures, officials reclaimed about $48,000 worth of Nike's "Dunk Low Midnight Navy" shoes and six boxes of "Disney NBC Jack Squish" — likely a reference to "The Nightmare Before Christmas" character Jack Skellington as a Squishmallow. Authorities have arrested several people in connection with the BNSF thefts, including 11 accused of involvement in the January heist and one man they believe to be a ringleader, but the thefts have continued. "BNSF has robust security protocols, and our police department is focused on preventing these incidents on our network," a company spokesperson told Business Insider. "We are working with federal, state, local, and tribal police departments to coordinate our approach to disrupting criminal activity and arresting offenders." "It's essential that the entire criminal justice system, including policymakers, district attorneys, and judges, focus on this crime trend and help to ensure these criminals are held responsible and prosecuted," the spokesperson said. "These are not victimless crimes, particularly when many of these packages include much-needed medicine, food, and critical supplies necessary for everyday life." Cargo thefts cost the biggest railroads more than $100 million last year, according to the Association of American Railroads. There were more than 65,000 thefts in 2024, about 40% more than in 2023, the industry group said. Buffett, one of the world's wealthiest people worth more than $150 billion, oversaw Berkshire's acquisition of BNSF in 2010. The company's railroad system spans 28 states, generating nearly $24 billion in revenue and about $5 billion in net income last year. Read the original article on Business Insider
New York Times
03-03-2025
- New York Times
Old-Fashioned Train Heists Yield Modern-Day Loot: Nike Air Jordans
It sounds like something out of the Wild West. In recent months, well-organized bandits have jumped on trains rolling through the Mojave Desert in Arizona and stolen their cargo. But these robbers were not stealing gold bullion and pocket watches. They were taking Nike Air Jordans, wireless gaming headsets and other modern-day loot, according to federal prosecutors. In many cases, the robbers used electric saws, bolt-cutters and other tools to break open the locks on containers holding pricey merchandise. Then they cut the air hoses on the brakes, which caused the trains to come to a sudden stop and put them at risk of derailing, prosecutors said. Trains in the region often travel at 70 m.p.h. Once the trains were stopped, the robbers took cases of Air Jordans, electronics and other goods off the trains and hid them in fields and brush by the side of the tracks. Then they contacted associates who came to pick up the goods and hauled them away in box trucks, prosecutors said. Eventually, some of the merchandise ended up for sale from third-party vendors on Amazon and eBay. The train heists, previously reported by The Los Angeles Times, have increased in frequency over the past two years, as more transnational gangs have been targeting high-value shipments, prosecutors said. At least 12 defendants — most of them Mexican citizens who were in the United States illegally — have been charged in federal courts since last year, according to court documents that describe at least seven train robberies since June 8, 2023. Law enforcement agents have seized about $3 million in merchandise believed to have been stolen from BNSF trains. Several defendants were arrested in January after the authorities responded to a BNSF train whose air hose had been cut near Williams, Ariz. That particular train transported only Nike products and had been frequently targeted by robbers, prosecutors said. When this one was stopped on Jan. 13, a BNSF police officer found about 200 to 250 cases of Nike shoes by the railroad tracks. Investigators apparently set up an operation to catch whoever was coming to pick up the stolen shoes. They hid tracking devices in four of the Nike cases, which contained an Air Jordan style that had not been not scheduled to be released for another two months and that retails for about $225 a pair. The authorities then traced the shoes to two vehicles — a U-Haul truck and a Ford truck with the name 'Eddie's' written on the side — and arrested several people, one of whom tried to flee. The Ford truck was carrying about $202,000 worth of Air Jordans, prosecutors said. The authorities also recovered more than 900 boxes of Turtle Beach Stealth Pro headsets, worth more than $590,000, which were stolen from a BNSF train east of Flagstaff, Ariz., in 2023, prosecutors said. Those headsets had been loaded into a large landscaping vehicle and taken to a Motel 6. The gangs carrying out the heists consist primarily of Mexican citizens from Sinaloa, who have extensive connections in California, New Mexico and Arizona, prosecutors said. According to the Association of American Railroads, there were more than 65,000 train thefts last year, a roughly 40 percent increase over the previous year. The thefts cost the industry more than $100 million last year, according to the association. Rail companies estimate that, at most, only one in 10 cargo theft attempts results in an arrest. The association has called for greater federal investment to secure the rail network, saying the industry 'cannot disrupt these highly organized — and often transnational — criminal groups alone.' BNSF and Nike did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. The robbers often scout high-value shipments by looking for trains with highly visible locks on the containers as the trains travel alongside Interstate 40 in the small city of Needles, Calif., near the Arizona border, prosecutors said. While many of the trains were stopped by bandits who cut the air hoses on the brakes, the robbers have also sabotaged railway signal systems by busting the locks off signal boxes and cutting the control wires inside, prosecutors said. In court documents, prosecutors called that form of sabotage 'a dangerous act that creates dark areas on the rail network.' Robbers have ample opportunity to board trains in the remote Arizona desert because they often have to stop on side tracks for four or five hours to let another train pass in the opposite direction, said Edward A. Hall, the national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. Because the trains can be three miles long, the engineer and conductor may have no idea that robbers have gotten on board miles behind them, said Mr. Hall, who was a Union Pacific engineer for 28 years, operating trains between Yuma, Ariz., and Tucumcari, N.M. By the time an engineer or conductor walks back to investigate, the robbers may be long gone, he said. 'It's gone on forever, as long as I've been employed in the industry,' Mr. Hall said of the train heists, 'but it's happening more often now.'
