FENCING DISCOUNT SNEAKERS.

That's one way to get inventory cheaply.

Authorities have arrested Adeel Shams, founder of popular sneaker resale platform CoolKicks, after discovering more than $500,000 in stolen Nike goods during a raid at the company’s Santa Monica warehouse.

Police said the merchandise — including 2,100 pairs of shoes and 150 cartons of apparel, some unreleased — had been stolen from an intermodal train in Southern California.

The Oct. 2 operation was conducted in coordination with the Union Pacific Railroad Police, Los Angeles Port Police, Los Angeles Airport Police, and the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation.

Shams, 34, was booked on suspicion of receiving stolen property and released the following day. Three others were also arrested.

We've long suspected that there's organized looting of container trains, possibly including insiders at the docks or railway billing departments tipping off the muscle to which trains to stop and which containers to pilfer.

CargoNet data shows theft activity reached a record 3,798 incidents in 2024, with rail thefts emerging as a growing weak spot. Overhaul estimated about 65,000 freight-rail thefts in 2024, a 40% jump from the prior year and more than $100 million in losses.

Though rail thefts remain a smaller portion of total cargo crimes, analysts warn that organized theft rings and underreported losses are driving risk higher across trucking, warehousing, and intermodal supply chains — particularly around major freight hubs such as Los Angeles.

Authorities also arrested 17 people after raids at three San Bernardino County locations last week, reportedly recovering more than $375,000 worth of merchandise stolen from BNSF Railway trains and more than $61,000, cash, according to a KTLA-TV report. The Victor Valley News reports another 14 people were arrested Monday (Oct. 6) by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in conjunction with BNSF police. In that incident, investigators said they recovered $42,500 in property stolen from BNSF, along with approximately $55,000 in cash.

The parcels tossed out of containers that don't have the sneakers and other items requested by the merchants are harder to recover, as those get picked over by individual scavengers.