A Whitter shoe store owner was arrested after investigators say they found roughly 60 pallets of merchandise stolen straight off freight trains at his shop. Los Angeles police announced Tuesday that 45-year-old Waseem Saman, owner of Shoes N Shoes, was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property after a search warrant turned up about $1 million worth of goods authorities say were looted from BNSF and Union Pacific railroad cars.
According to MyNewsLA.com, the LAPD Commercial Crimes Division-Cargo Theft Task Force served the warrant at the Whitter store, where investigators say they recovered Nike shoes, New Balance sneakers, Brooks running shoes, Sanuk footwear, JanSport backpacks, Shark vacuums, and YETI cups and jugs. The LAPD says the warrant was actually executed on September 30, nearly a week before Tuesday's public announcement of the recovery and Saman's booking.
Saman, a Placentia resident, was booked at LAPD's Van Nuys Jail and released on his own recognizance the following day, the same report notes. He reportedly told investigators he had purchased much of his inventory from brokers or middlemen, per the LAPD statement relayed in the outlet's report — a claim that could prove central to his defense, since California law requires prosecutors to show he knew, or reasonably should have known, the goods were stolen.
A Task Force Built for Exactly This Kind of Bust
The operation leaned on a wide web of law enforcement partners, including Union Pacific Railroad Police, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Police, Alameda Belt Line Police, Los Angeles Port Police, and the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office Bureau of Investigation, per the same account. That kind of interagency coordination traces back to state legislation: Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1972 into law in August 2024, adding cargo theft to the task forces' remit.
It's not the task force's first big score this year. In February 2026, the same unit recovered more than $5 million in stolen freight equipment — including 84 container chassis and $301,604 in cash — during warrants served in Corona, Compton, and Wilmington, according to CBS News. And in June 2026, a joint investigation between the task force and the FBI led to federal grand jury indictments against 12 people, including the co-owner of a Los Angeles storefront, tied to a $2 million stolen Nike footwear operation running between Memphis and Los Angeles, the LAPD announced at the time.
Legal Exposure Under California's Stolen Property Law
Under California Penal Code Section 496, receiving stolen property valued above $950 is a wobbler offense that can carry up to three years in county jail, according to FindLaw. The statute's subsection 496(c) also allows victimized property owners to pursue civil treble damages — meaning the railroads or shippers whose cargo was looted could seek triple the value of what was stolen in a separate lawsuit.
The LAPD said the case underscores the importance of interagency collaboration in combating large-scale cargo theft, and the investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Commercial Crimes Division at 213-486-8766, or call 1-877-LAPD-24-7 after hours. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Part of a Much Bigger Rail Theft Problem
The Whittier bust lands amid a surge in cargo crime statewide. California ranked as the top state in the nation for cargo theft in 2025, recording 1,218 supply chain theft incidents and accounting for 38% of all cargo thefts nationwide, according to LiveViewGPS. Total supply chain theft losses in the United States climbed roughly 60% in 2025 to an estimated $725 million, per Verisk CargoNet. Total supply-chain crime events stayed essentially flat in 2025, while confirmed cargo thefts rose 18%, LiveViewGPS says.
Los Angeles County became a national flashpoint for freight train burglaries in January 2022, when Union Pacific reported a 160% surge in rail container break-ins in corridors like Lincoln Heights, leaving thousands of looted packages strewn across the tracks, as the LA Times reported at the time.
Even as enforcement pressure mounts in Los Angeles, the crime appears to be shifting elsewhere. Cargo theft incidents in Los Angeles County fell 11% in 2025, but criminal operations have migrated inland along freight corridors, driving an 82% spike in Kern County and a 44% surge in San Joaquin County, LiveViewGPS data shows.
