Amid a proliferation of train heists targeting Nike cargo, a Los Angeles-based reseller has been arrested for allegedly purchasing $500,000 worth of stolen goods.
Adeel Shams, owner of CoolKicks, was arrested last week by the Los Angeles Police Department. The raid on his Santa Monica warehouse occurred while Shams was livestreaming Thursday, and video recordings show him reacting with surprise before ending the stream.
Police recovered more than 2,100 pairs of stolen sneakers and 140 cartons of clothing from Nike during the search, according to a news release posted Monday. Shams has been charged with receiving known stolen property and was released the following day on his own recognizance. He’s scheduled for his first court appearance on Oct. 23, according to the LAPD’s booking database.
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Images shared by the police show seized sneakers including the Air Jordan 4 Cave Stone and Air Max 95s.
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In a statement posted to Instagram over the weekend, CoolKicks acknowledged “a small allotment of Nike sneakers” that had been purchased in the 48 hours prior had been seized.
The company denies that any leadership or staff had knowledge of the goods being stolen and emphasized that there have been no allegations of counterfeit product being involved.
In addition to having two Los Angeles retail locations and another in Las Vegas, CoolKicks also resells products online. Its YouTube channel has nearly 2 million followers and recently posted a video of online streamer IShowSpeed shopping at one of its stores.
Reports of train heists have increased in frequency over the past two years, with many thefts targeting Nike shipments. A report from the Los Angeles Times in February outlined a string of at least 10 heists in California and Los Angeles in the year prior leading to the loss of $2 million worth of Nike sneakers. In one incident, cases stolen from a train were picked up by trucks that were later caught by police with the aid of tracking devices inside some of the boxes.
The stolen goods have often been transported to California to be sold or listed by third parties on platforms such as StockX and Amazon.