Sneaker robberies and robberies have become more common in recent years, but with authorities cracking down on these sneaker theft rings, thieves may want to rethink their strategies as the police get wiser to the game.
Earlier this year, the LAPD busted a sneaker theft operation that led them to recover $5 million worth of stolen Nikes and Jordans at a Los Angeles hideout. According to Los Angeles Times, people involved in the theft ring paid people at UPS and even Nike to help them secure millions of dollars worth of stolen merchandise by having them print fake shipping labels that would “deliberately route or redirect” tons of sneakers to many locations in Los Angeles. And that was just the beginning.
Per the Los Angeles Times:
In the theft ring, detectives say, members would “intercept” packages with switched labels, grabbing them somewhere along the supply chain of docks, highways and warehouses. They sometimes stole packages by exchanging addresses with shipping companies after they left Nike's warehouse, according to Sternin's affidavit.
Sternin said Nike officials, who were investigating the thefts internally, contacted the LAPD. Several emails seeking comment from Nike were not returned.
A Memphis police sergeant working with that department's cargo theft task force told Sternin he had been on the case since last June, when he first became aware of “multiple unknown conspirators” working at Nike's Memphis location.
The ring has also recruited UPS employees in Tennessee and California “and possibly elsewhere within the UPS and Nike supply chain network,” according to Sternin.
And we thought FedEx was screwing us up by “losing” our shoe shipments to the system. UPS and Nike were also here in a completely different kind of SMH format.
Eventually, the search led back to a Roy Lee Harvey of Memphis. After obtaining a search warrant, authorities went through his email, iCloud data and cellphone records and found he had more than 1,000 exchanges with Nike employees in Memphis, Tenn., over a six-month period. Harvey was arrested on January 27.
While this may discourage others from going the same route as Harvey and his co-conspirators, don't think there aren't others thinking of other ways to make money in the sneaker market. It's a billion dollar business with enough beasts to fill a continent.
It's only a matter of time before another sneaker bust leads to millions of dollars worth of stolen trophies, as this one will only serve as a lesson in how to better prepare for the next jux. Hopefully, whatever chalices you win, you don't end up “wrong headed” in another direction.