LOS ANGELES — 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.
CoolKicks, known for selling limited-edition sneakers to collectors and celebrities such as Travis Kelce and Chris Brown, said in a statement that the company “entered into this purchase in good faith.”
The case underscores a broader rise in cargo theft across the U.S. this year. Verisk CargoNet recorded 1,671 thefts in the first half of 2025 across the U.S. and Canada — a 13% year-over-year increase — while Overhaul logged about 1,030 U.S. incidents during the same period.
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.
— This article originally appeared at FreightWaves.com.
