Merchandise, weapons and vehicles seized
The Sheriff's Department alleges that the group stole millions of dollars in property through a series of burglaries of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway trains. Investigators arrested the nine suspects while executing a search warrant at a house in the 1200 block of East 35th Street in San Bernardino.
Among the goods recovered by the department's rural crime task force were speakers from JBL, computer hardware from Logitech, Victoria's Secret merchandise, shoes from Nike and New Balance, and Husky tools.
Investigators also reported finding four semiautomatic handguns, fentanyl, a large amount of cash and a drone used for surveillance. They seized tools allegedly used to open train cargo containers and four vehicles they said had been used in the crimes.
All nine suspects were booked on suspicion of conspiracy to steal railroad property and possession of a controlled substance while armed, the department said.
The department identified those arrested as Jose Navarrete, 24; Brian Iran Fontes-Carrillo, 27; Mauro Ruiz-Medina, 30; Pastor Pena-Lerma, 43; Alfredo Covarrubias-Navarrete, 24; Jose Alfredo Castillo-Baca, 24; Jose Ismael Palafox-Bernal, 18; Cesar Daniel Navarrete-Martinez, 31; and Cristian Erubiel Navarrete-Zapien, 23.
Other Southern California train thefts
Several other incidents have targeted BNSF trains in Southern California in recent months. On the night of Aug. 10, 2026, railway police encountered people breaking into rail cars at Cajon Pass near Devore, according to SONAR, the FreightWaves market blog. One suspect fired a handgun at an officer, who was not struck. The suspects escaped. SONAR reported that it was the second shooting at that same choke point in less than a year.
In rural Amboy in San Bernardino County, thieves using 15 to 20 vehicles took $50,000 worth of Ariat boots and Dewalt construction equipment from a BNSF train on Sept. 4, the Orange County Register reported. An off-duty deputy subsequently spotted box trucks matching those involved, and authorities arrested two residents of Sinaloa, Mexico.
On Sept. 17, robbers ignited a shipping container aboard a BNSF train passing through Riverside. The fire forced the engineer to stop, allowing thieves to enter freight cars, according to the Register. BNSF police investigated the robbery of the Los Angeles-to-Chicago train. The newspaper described the incident as part of a growing trend of increasingly bold, organized train robberies.
County losses extend beyond rail cargo
Train cargo theft is one focus of the Sheriff's Department's broader rural crime efforts, which also cover copper wire theft, agricultural property theft and illegal animal fighting. Victor Valley News reported that the department's Rural Crimes Task Force and patrol stations had recovered more than $15.6 million in stolen property and made 85 arrests in 2026.
For January through July 2026, authorities recorded 294 thefts involving train cargo and other rural properties. Reported losses from those thefts exceeded $16.8 million.
National theft figures and California's inland shift
Major U.S. railroads reported more than 75,000 theft incidents during 2025, with losses exceeding $200 million, according to Association of American Railroads figures cited by SONAR. The reported increase from the previous year was more than 50%.
The association estimates that roughly one arrest results from every 10 rail theft attempts. It attributes that low rate largely to organized theft investigations crossing multiple jurisdictions.
A broader measure from Verisk CargoNet put estimated cargo theft losses across the United States and Canada at nearly $725 million in 2025. That was 60% above the 2024 total, while the number of reported incidents increased about 18%.
California had the most incidents of any state, at 1,218. CargoNet reported a shift within the state: incidents in Los Angeles County fell 11%, while Kern County saw an 82% increase and San Joaquin County a 44% increase.
