LAPD detectives recovered approximately $1 million in stolen rail freight — 59 pallets of branded consumer goods — during a Sept. 30 search of Shoes n Shoes in Whittier, California, the department announced Oct. 6.

Investigators connected the haul to cargo stolen from BNSF and Union Pacific trains. Recovered merchandise included Nike, New Balance, Brooks and Sanuk footwear, Yeti cups, jugs, JanSport backpacks and Shark vacuums.

The categories — footwear, drinkware, luggage and small appliances — routinely move by intermodal boxcar through the San Pedro Bay corridor and command strong secondary-market prices, making them frequent theft targets along Class I rail lanes in Southern California.

Who did LAPD arrest?

Task force detectives contacted 45-year-old Waseem Saman, the Placentia-based owner of Shoes n Shoes, while executing the search warrant. "Saman admitted purchasing much inventory from brokers or middlemen," LAPD said in its Oct. 6 release. The department characterized those suppliers as illegitimate distributors channeling branded goods into retail inventory.

Officers booked Saman at Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of receiving stolen property under California Penal Code 496(a). His booking number is 7331207. The statute covers knowingly buying or receiving goods taken by theft, and prosecutors typically weigh the dollar value of recovered merchandise heavily when setting bail and recommending charges.

What did the task force operation involve?

The recovery drew in rail police from both Class I carriers — BNSF and Union Pacific — plus Alameda Belt Line personnel. Los Angeles Port Police and the LA County District Attorney's Office Bureau of Investigation also contributed. LAPD framed the multi-agency collaboration as central to combating large-scale cargo theft rings operating in Southern California.

The multi-agency composition mirrors task-force structures LAPD has used in prior Southland cargo theft operations, where joint investigations have produced multi-hundred-thousand-dollar recoveries from receivers supplying unauthorized retail channels.

Police have not disclosed how the recovered merchandise originally left BNSF or Union Pacific custody. The Oct. 6 release omitted theft dates, shipping origins, destinations, individual load values and the names of suspected middlemen. LAPD asked anyone with information to contact its Commercial Crimes Division.

How does this fit the regional cargo-theft pattern?

Rail theft has repeatedly disrupted BNSF and UP operations across Southern California. Earlier BNSF boxcar burglaries produced recoveries of $123,000 in Brooks shoes and $150,000 in New Balance footwear in separate investigations, suggesting organized actors target specific lanes carrying branded apparel and consumer goods.

For carriers, recoveries of this size reduce open claim exposure and validate continued spending on dedicated rail-police units and joint task forces.

For branded shippers — Nike, Brooks, New Balance, Sanuk, Yeti and Shark — the Saman seizure illustrates how intermodal boxcar freight can resurface through unauthorized commercial channels long after leaving the rail network.

For forwarders and small retailers, the booking underscores the felony risk of buying inventory from middlemen without verified provenance.

What's next?

As intermodal volumes through the San Pedro Bay complex continue climbing into peak retail shipping season, Class I rail police are expected to keep pressure on organized theft rings. Detectives continue to pursue the middleman network that allegedly supplied Saman, and further referrals to the LA County District Attorney's Office appear likely given the $1 million valuation. Carriers are likely to keep ramping up joint interdiction operations targeting receivers handling freight outside authorized distribution.